Identical Opposites
by Ellipses
Summary: BtVS/Cruel Intentions AU Crossover. mainly B/A with some K/A. Buffy and Kathryn are twins. Kathryn is the popular one, with a popular boyfriend Angel, who happens to also be SHS's new quarterback. And there on, the plot thickens...
1. Part 1 - Sister Sister

Title: Identical Opposites  
Author: Ice Princess  
Email: ice_princess_287@yahoo.com.au  
Disclaimer: Nothing from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Cruel Intentions is mine. No infringement intended. Don't sue.  
Rating: PG-15 (for language)  
Summary: Buffy and Kathryn are twins. Chance meetings cause things to stir.  
Author's Note: AU Challenge by Angelic Mexx. Kathryn's character may be a bit warped at times, but I'll try to make her character more like in the movie as it goes on. And yes, Mai Lee is their Vietnamese maid/servant. Angel is Kathryn's boyfriend, but has never met Buffy nor ever even heard of her. No vamps no Slayers world.  
Timeline: They're in their second week of senior year (1998).  
Feedback: It wouldn't hurt...  


**Part 1**

"Buffy!" Kathryn Summers called out to her twin sister in anger. "Have you taken my dress? You know, the Dior one I got last week?"

Buffy looked down sadly at the beautiful dress in her hands. She wished she could have afforded to buy it. Unfortunately, her parents seemed to like to play favourites, spoiling the older twin with lavish gifts whenever she wanted something and neglecting Buffy and the youngest of the Summers family, Dawn.

Despite all the favouritism, Buffy wasn't envious of her older sister. She always had expectations to live up to, always had to pretend to be someone she wasn't, had to do things the person she was before wouldn't have done. Buffy always wondered why her twin sister was considered the prettiest girl in SHS—they looked exactly same only with different coloured hair. Buffy was blonde and Kathryn was a brunette. Extra dark.

The person Kathryn had been before was so much like Buffy. The two had been practically inseparable, until they moved to Sunnydale. Kathryn had befriended Cordelia Chase whereas Buffy clicked immediately with Willow Rosenberg—one of the nicest people in the whole of Sunnydale Junior High, but not exactly the most popular.

It all went downhill from there.

Maybe it was their parents' fault, but Kathryn didn't exactly turn into a devious spoilt bitch overnight.

Now, in their final year of high school, Kathryn had become the biggest bitch in Sunnydale High history, outshining Cordelia by miles. Of course, at home, she was quite the charmer, thus winning the favouritism of their parents. She treated Buffy like her servant, but most of the time, Buffy ignored her and locked herself in her room with her leather-bound diary, with her CD player playing CDs like Sarah McLachlan, Splendid, Alison Kraus and other artists Kathryn claimed she'd never listen to. Buffy caught her one time though, and Kathryn was so mad she threw a tantrum and broke the three vases in the living room.

Kathryn blamed the mess on Buffy's chinchilla, a beautiful feline by the name of Mr Gordo. It was a wonder they even let Buffy keep the cat—the vases had been their mother's family heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation since 1879.

Buffy glumly stepped outside her room, disdainfully holding the dress in her hands. "Here. I think Mai Lee just put it in the wrong pile of washing."

"I didn't put it in the wash." Kathryn gave Buffy a frigid stare and walked away with the dress in her hands and bad mood for the rest of the day. Dawn was poking her head out of her door to see what all the commotion was about, even though she had gotten used to the whole thing over the years. She was just waiting for the day when Buffy would fight back, dye her hair brown or wear exactly the same thing as her twin—just to piss her off. When the 14 year old noticed she'd been spotted, her eyes went wide and she ducked back behind the safety of her door.

Buffy sighed and went back in her room. Sometimes you wonder if things would've turned out differently if this, this and this didn't happen, but Buffy knew that even if you wondered about it, it'd never happen. Buffy shrugged into her new pale blue pinstriped blouse and went downstairs to grab an aspirin and her favourite embroidered cardigan.

Really, it was a much too typical morning for Buffy—Kathryn shouting for something, Buffy having to have an aspirin because of it…it was all fine and dandy...

*****

"Hey Will, Xand, Oz. How was your weekend?" Buffy sat down with them on one of the benches outside SHS.

"Uneventful, as usual. You?" Xander Harris was munching on an apple, his attention focussed solely on the fruit.

"Same as always."

"Oz had a gig in UC Sunnydale with the Dingoes. They were really good, weren't you Oz?" Willow was her usual Monday perky self, her excitement over school getting the better of her. She was clinging to Oz's arm, almost possessively so.

"I wouldn't say that exactly. We were better than usual though." Oz shrugged and spotted Faith and Spike walking towards them. As usual, they were bickering like little old ladies (even though little old ladies hardly ever bicker).

"Spike, just drop it already." Faith ripped her attention away from her boyfriend long enough to greet everyone. "Hey guys. Spike's just being a bastard. See you all later 'k?" Faith ran after Spike, frantically trying to convince him she wasn't cheating on him. Of course, she was, but she liked to have Spike as her faithful puppy dog.

"She needs help. And a new wardrobe. Is it just me or has she worn leather pants every day for the past 2 weeks?" Buffy asked quietly.

"We should take her shopping," Willow answered happily, still giddy from the excitement of her weekend.

"Yeah, and what would the benefit out of that be? Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Cordelia sneered at her and brusquely strutted off with her followers most likely to talk to Kathryn (although it wasn't likely that Kathryn would be at school so early) about their respective weekends. Maybe even insult a few more innocent souls along the way.

"Bitch." Buffy sneered back quietly. "Don't listen to her, she's just Cordelia," Buffy put her hand on Willow's shoulder and comfort and Willow smiled back, her perky mood snapping back in place. "Besides, you should be thankful that it wasn't Kathryn who eavesdropped on our conversation. I swear, I don't know how I even put up with her."

"Why is everyone so happy today? It's Monday, and I didn't do my history homework. Anyone here have some I can copy?"

"Yeah, in my locker. You can copy it during Study Hall." Willow picked her backpack from the ground and slung it over her shoulder. "I have to see Miss Calendar, I'm helping her with a new database system for the admin staff. See you all in history."

"Bye."

Willow waved and left with Oz in tow. He'd have her smiling in no time, of that, Buffy was sure.

"Wow, aren't they the dependent type today." Xander threw the core of his apple into the bin and wiped his hands on his pants--the guy way of cleaning their hands. "Why with the glum?"

"Nothing, don't worry about Buffy. She's fine." Buffy stared dreamily up at the clear blue sky. She wished that the weather would stop contradicting her moods; it was always too sunny.

Just then, Faith burst out of SHS's front doors in a rage, stomping over to where Buffy and Xander were sitting. It wasn't quite enough to snap the blonde out of her daze, but she did. Eventually.

"I'm officially angry at Spike okay? If you see him, tell him that for me."

"I think he would've gotten the message by now. Besides, I thought he was mad at you. You two crazy kids should work it out one of these days. I keep forgetting who's mad with whom and then I get all confused and-"

"Xander, shut up."

"Yes ma'm." Faith punched him in the shoulder when he saluted her. The bell rang before Xander had a chance to punch her back.

"Damn, I really wanted to get you back for that..." Xander muttered to Faith before picking his things up. "Shall I walk you two lovely ladies to class or will you be fine by yourselves?"

"Go, we're very capable," Faith emphasised the word 'capable', causing the brunette boy to scurry off in search of Willow's locker for his history homework.

Faith had grown up in a tough neighbourhood in Boston, teaching her basic survival skills and how to punch really really hard. He'd been lucky she was only punching him playfully, or else he'd have had a bruise for at least a week.

"Come on B, you can't be little miss down-in-the-dumps all day."

"Who says I can't?"

"Me."

"Why have you got the authority?"

"Cos I'm Faith. And you're B."

Buffy shook her head and couldn't help but smile. She was lucky she had friends like Willow, Xander, Oz, Faith and Spike. She looked back up to the sky and regretfully stepped inside the building.

*****

Angel Ferguson was angry. Once again, Kathryn was making him late for school. He'd already been tardy 5 times and it was only the first day of the second week back from summer break.

He honked the horn again. Kathryn stepped outside the door, dressed immaculately in a dress he'd never seen her in before (which wasn't very uncommon anyway), and in heels that made it impossible for her to hurry down the stone steps quickly enough.

"We're late, let's go." Kathryn told him bluntly, slamming the door closed aggressively. She was in a terrible mood, and she couldn't find a single aspirin for her headache. She only needed one guess who's fault that was. Her grumpy self wasn't a pleasure to be around, nor was her that-time-of-the-month self.

Angel stepped on the gas and wondered how he put up with all this. Sure, he was the most popular guy in school, what with him being the star quarterback and all, and Kathryn was the most popular girl, but that didn't make her act like any less of a bitch to him than to anyone else. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he thought she was most gorgeous girl he'd ever seen. Maybe. Probably.


	2. Part 2 - Routines + Relationships

**Part 2**

Finally, school ended for the day at precisely 2:30 and Kathryn carefully walked down the front steps, careful not to ruin her new shoes. There, waiting for her, was Angel standing next to his convertible (which she loved—and Cordy envied). She always wondered how he was always able to get there before her. Maybe it was because she always got distracted by someone trying their luck on asking her out or spreading rumours about so-and-so or maybe because she had trouble walking on the unevenly paved walkway leading from the front doors of the school to the footpath.

She met him with a slow, passionate kiss. She was smiling, for the first time in maybe a week (which didn't include wicked smirks when she played with people's heads). All because she had gotten the opportunity to turn down one of the most eligible guys in school after toying with him for, like, a month. These were the things that made life so worth living for her.

"So, where were we going again? You had me a little distracted just then and it completely slipped my mind." Angel smirked and traced an intricate pattern on the bare skin of her upper arm, eliciting a slight shiver, due partly to the cloudy afternoon weather. The sun had disappeared behind a thick gathering of clouds not long before recess and it looked as it were going to rain…in maybe, half an hour.

"My place. You forgot? Monday is the only day I'll be home alone all afternoon. Mai Lee is having her day off, the parental units working until eightish, one sister at this study thing with her friends and, well, my other sister...who knows... I thought you said you'd come over and we'd have a little…fun?" Kathryn rubbed against him suggestively, a wicked grin on her face and her sharp fingernails sending shivers up his spine as she played with the short hairs on the nape of his neck.

"Since when did you have sisters?" Angel had only been dating her for a week, and they hadn't talked much about their personal lives. Their social backgrounds were enough for them to get along well.

"Since...well, forever. Younger sisters, especially ones not much younger than you, are the worst. So are we going or not? Cos if we're just gonna talk all the time, I'm asking someone else for a lift. I mean, plenty of people wouldn't turn me down." Kathryn stepped away from him in an act of mockery.

"Don't play with me, I'm not that type of guy." Angel grinned and got into the driver's seat of his Benz. A immaculately cared for vehicle which he'd gotten for his birthday as a joint present between his parents, grandparents and relatives. After finding out just how many people pitched in, he didn't feel so special after all; he didn't let anyone know that tiny detail either, and that suited him just fine.

"Fine. But you better not do the same to me. There'll be hell to pay for. Then Cordelia would go after you..." Her voice trailed off as he sped down the street, the engine roaring loudly down the busy street.

Buffy sat under a tree watching the car race by, afraid that it would start raining before her mother got there in time to give her a ride to the gallery, where she worked on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons for "work experience". More like "get away from über-bitch experience"... Another one of Kathryn's guys...he probably wouldn't last as long as any of the other ones, unless he was as good-looking as Richard Price. But he'd only lasted a month. Buffy wondered how Kathryn would ever find a guy to just settle with for more than a month if she always kept standards like that.

**I give the new guy one and a half weeks. Two and a half if he's hot.**

"Hey Buffy!" Willow was walking with her boyfriend (again), smiling her bright Willow smile, books in hand as well as a small box of floppy disks.

"Will, Oz. Where are you two headed?"

"Database work at Willow's," Oz said abruptly, shrugging nonchalantly when Buffy raised an eyebrow at them in question.

"More like smooch work at Willow's. I doubt any work will come out of this particular...situation." Buffy waggled both her eyebrows at Willow, and she flushed a bright pink colour. It gets Willow every time when Buffy talks about her and Oz kissing. It's like she's still in seventh grade, the way she acts about not-so-intimate things like a little lip action.

"Stop that Buffy! We're doing this...for Miss Calendar. So stop doing that with your eyebrows! It's...very, well, it's very strange. To have to talk to you while you're moving your eyebrows like that. So...stop it!" Willow shifted from foot to foot nervously while she spoke, not an uncommon action for Willow, but is enough for Buffy to stop and push them in the right direction.

"Go, I'll be fine. See? Look, there's my mom now." Buffy picked up her things and walked with them until they had to part in different directions. "Bye, now don't go doing anything you'll regret, okay?"

Willow blushed even brighter than before, but didn't have a chance to get back at her. Willow shook her head and smiled, happy in the fact that it was going well enough between herself and Oz for Buffy to make a comment like that.

"We should go now. It looks kinda rainy." Oz told her, glancing cautiously at the grey sky, which was turning darker every minute.

"Sure." Smiling brightly at her boyfriend. Sure, she had a good relationship, but her friend didn't. She had a strong belief that it was a best friend's job to help in that department. Course, that didn't work out too well when she and Xander were best buds. It had been her favourite Barbie too…and he cut all her hair off.

Oh well, the past was the past and the future is the future.

*****

"Mom, I don't think this one goes well with the ones next to it. It should go...over there, between the two paintings by Carter since the lighting is much better and the colours go much better." Buffy pointed at the painting down the other end of one of the gallery's showcase halls. The painting if front of her really did look out of place. The lighting just wasn't bright enough to highlight all the wonderful use of colour, whereas the spot she had suggested had the advantage of natural light during the day.

"I know. I put it up and it just looked…wrong. I just couldn't decide where to put it. I'll get Trey to move it first thing tomorrow morning. He's just so handy with the spirit level. That way I know that it-"

"Mom, I know what a spirit level is. I have two essays to write, half a dozen little homework tasks and one science assignment to do so we really should leave before I turn 18."

"Okay, okay. We're going." Joyce picked up her purse and opened the front door for her daughter to go through and locked it behind them.

*****

Kathryn was kissing Angel furiously, her hair mussed and his shirt undone. They'd been stuck in a traffic jam on the way back and had only ended up with half an hour alone with Angel since Cordelia had decided to drop by to ask her how she should do her hair for tonight's date. Of course, knowing Cordelia, it'd taken at least an hour to get her sorted out. What did Cordelia think she was? An average Californian valley girl? As if she could care less what Cordy's hair looked for her date with Daniel McIntosh, a college guy she'd met at the mall on Saturday.

The afternoon was not going to plan...

And to top it all off, the storm had taken out the power, forcing them to have to search through the whole house for candles and when they had, the power was back on again. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon with the most fuck-worthy guy on this side of Pacific; in her opinion.

Kathryn nearly missed the sound of her mother's car pulling into the driveway. She checked the watch on her nightstand and broke physical contact with her boyfriend.

"Oh shit. She's early." Kathryn jumped right into action, zipping her dress up, fixing her hair and busying herself with cleaning the room up as if to show that she was still "innocent little Kathy". Yeah, and shadows are yellow.

Angel dressed quickly and hurried out the back door, careful to lock it from the inside before closing it. By the time he got out and halfway around the side of the large house, the car had been parked and everyone had already gone inside. Damn, he wanted to see what they looked like, whether or not they were as hot as his regularly ill-intentioned girlfriend. It didn't really matter that she had been known as the bitchiest of the whole lot of them, but at least it shows some sort of character. As long as he stayed as far away as possible to the idea of breaking it with her before she does to him, he'd still be in possession of his head.


	3. Part 3 - Real Friends

**Part 3**

Two weeks later, Kathryn had been grounded for breaking her curfew one night when she'd gone out to the Bronze to break a few hearts and ease up her frustrations over this "one maths problem" she couldn't work out (otherwise known as partying with bad excuse). Of course, she lost track of the time and had to result to sneaking in. She was caught in the act by both parents and grounded for a month. A slight blemish to her otherwise untarnished innocent act. Nothing Benny can't fix.

Benny, the guy on the corner of Sutherland and Harper every Tuesday at 9, was a tough businessman, but it wasn't as if you could get the same quality any where in the vicinity. He always seemed to have a flowing stock of the stuff; even Kathryn knew that she wouldn't be able to rely on anyone else for her supply. She was completely addicted, ever since that wild party in the summer break, and she just couldn't stop going back to Benny. Not too bad a guy either.

Kathryn looked out the window and saw her sisters outside, sunbaking by the pool, with that nasty cat sleeping in the tree. It was no secret that she and Mr Gordo couldn't stand each other. Kathryn squinted her eyes and could just make out the shape of Mr Gordo slinking down the tree into Buffy's lap. **What is wrong with that cat?**

Kathryn unscrewed the top of her cross and lifted the small spoon to her nostril, pressing the other down firmly, and snorted the powder up. Nice and calming. She screwed that top back on and let the cross dangle from her hand, the jewels twinkling in the sunlight. She'd gotten it from "a friend" of Benny's for a very good deal. She mostly used it to trick her parents, but it came in handy whenever her nerves needed calming or when she felt she needed another fix…basically, it was a multipurpose little thing. Pretty too. Kathryn was sure that both Buffy and Cordelia had their suspicions on the real purpose of the little contraption, just not yet and hopefully never.

Kathryn snatched a tissue from the box on her desk and dabbed lightly at her nose. She threw the barely-used tissue into the wastepaper basket and stormed out of her room.

She opened the door to Buffy's room, disgusted at the decoration of the walls and the general style of the room. Pictures of her friends all over the place, beaded cushions, a fluffy tissue box cover...the list of things she hated about it was endless. It just seemed...so girly to her.

She pulled open the top desk drawer and pulled out Buffy's leather bound diary, only to discover that there was a small lock, which she had never even noticed before. She just knew Buffy was up to something, and since she wrote in her diary constantly, Kathryn figured she'd be able to find out from the small book in her hands. Maybe even find out if she knew about her coke problem. She was fuming, and was clenching her fist around the delicate chain that held her cross, not successfully breaking it, but hurting her hand just enough to make herself stop clenching as hard.

"What are you doing in here?" Kathryn turned around to meet the angry eyes of her blonde twin. Mr Gordo was at her feet, flicking his tail like the waggling finger of one of those mean old boarding school matrons when they catch one of their charges misbehaving. Kathryn had never been to boarding school, but that was what she'd imagined they would be like with grey hair and a lot of purple, maroon and grey in their wardrobes.

"Nothing," Kathryn glared back at her angry sister and threw the diary back into the drawer it came from and strode silently from the room. Buffy moved aside for her bitch of a sister to leave, smiling slightly at the hissing noise Mr Gordo made when Kathryn passed him. The day Mr Gordo actually lashed out at Kathryn would a joyous day, but for now, he was still a little scared of the raven-haired Summers twin. Damn...

*****

Buffy spotted Spike, who was apparently moping or thinking deeply or something along those lines, sitting on the edge of the fountain in the courtyard and staring at the backs of his hands (or maybe even the ground or his pants or anything in that general downward direction). His back was hunched and his hair looked as if he'd forgotten to comb it when he woke up this morning.

"Hey Spike," Buffy greeted her friend, seating herself next to him, "what's the what?" Buffy was concerned with Spike as he and Faith had been fighting for over two weeks now. It was surprising to everyone that they still hadn't broken up yet considering they could be such a good couple one minute and the next they would be within inches of tearing each others throats out. Not literally of course.

"Buffy. You know you're my bestest friend on the face of the world right?" Spike looked her right in the eye, the sorrow showing clearly in contrast with his tough exterior.

"Yeah, of course. And I thought a poetic person like you knew that 'bestest' is not a real word. Guess I was mistaken."

"What other word fits?"

"Well now you're just getting off track. What is it now? Faith troubles?"

"How did you know?" Spike asked sarcastically. He ran his hand through his and hair and looked up at yet another flawlessly blue sky. Maybe if he wished hard enough it'd start raining again, or if he did the rain (however crazy it'd look), just so he'd get weather to match his mood.

"I'm Buffy; I know stuff. Tell me about it."

"Faith, she said I wasn't man enough for her and she dumped me. Right in the middle of the street. Almost had me run over too. That damn bitch almost had me killed. Bloody hell."

"Has anything that has come out of her mouth ever been all the truthful? Especially to a guy?"

"Yeah, I guess not..." Spike mumbled. After a second, he seemed to have had some sort of a realisation. "I'm unattached now...cool. Do you think you could fix me up with your sister?"

"You know we're not all that close, so don't get your hopes up."

"Damn. Is my hair messed up? She's in my first period class and I don't want to look a ruffian off the bloody streets." Spike set to work at smoothing out his mussed hair, using the fountain as a mirror-like reflective surface.

"Not anymore. Should've seen what it looked like earlier, wow..."

"Oh shut up. You don't ever have a bad hair day, what are you complaining about?"

"Are you kidding? You have no idea how much goes into resolving bad hair days..."

*****

Spike knocked twice on the Summers' front door. He knew for a fact that it wouldn't be Kathryn answering the door, but Mai Lee made him uncomfortable, especially when he couldn't understand what she was saying.

To his relief, Buffy answered the door, a large bowl in her hands. "Hi Spike. Crushin' on my sister again?" It was no secret to the group that Spike had a crush on both the Summers twins, especially the dark haired one.

"What? No, of course not...I'm here to...umm...ask about the homework in…umm…" Spike couldn't think of a single class he had with her, except history, but luckily, they didn't have any homework.

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Why don't you come in? You're letting in the insects. You're just in time for a movie and popcorn. Kathryn's upstairs, so please stop looking as if your pants are too tight. It's unnerving."

"Don't worry. I like my women dark. Don't need to feel uncomfortable around me either." Spike stepped through the door and saw Mai Lee cleaning the mirror in the front entryway. She was smiling at him strangely again. As if she was in some sort of conspiracy and was forced to smile at everyone. "Mai Lee." Spike nodded his head curtly to her and continued into the house, to the family room.

"Here's the popcorn, nice and hot, straight from the microwave. Make yourself comfortable; it isn't as if you're going to be attacked by Mr Gordo again, he's asleep up in my room, out of harm's way. Remember, you just had the smell of hot dog on your hands. He goes crazy over hot dogs, I told you and you-"

"Yeah, yeah. I remember. Ooh, 'There's Something About Mary'. I've been meaning to see this." He sat down on the nearest sofa, intent on actually watching the movie instead of 'turning things over' in his mind. "Extra butter, extra salt?"

"Can't have it any other way."

Spike grabbed a large handful and glued his eyes to the screen. He could hardly even taste the extra salt and butter he was so engrossed in his thoughts. Why was he always so unlucky in love? ...Dru, Faith, and the 3-year-crush on Kathryn...what a history...

*****

"What's blondie doing here?" Spike's head snapped to the direction in which Kathryn's voice came. She was standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips, cross clasped tightly in her hands and yet another expensive outfit showing off her womanly figure.

"I was just leaving," Spike gave Buffy a Look and left the house without so much as a glance at Kathryn.

"I swear, why did you decide to hang with the likes of such losers? It makes me ashamed to be your sister; worse, twins." Kathryn sniped like it was a daily routine to insult her sister; which it really was, you could say. She spun on her heel and continued down the hallway to the bar to get something to calm her nerves.

"Hey hey, at least I have real friends," Buffy fought back.

"Are you saying I don't?"

"Of course. Which page are you on? That's exactly what I said."

"Excuse me?"

"Woah, there's a lot of tension in this hallway." Dawn stepped between her sisters, in an attempt to break up the catfight that was bound to have occurred had no one stopped them.

"Thanks for that Dawnie. My temper just ran away from me," Buffy said. She glared past Dawn's head at her twin one last time and hurried back to her room to write in her diary again. It would make an interesting entry indeed.


	4. Part 4 - Tantrums, Fines and Tardies

**Part 4**

"Go mo Mai Lee," Buffy received the letter politely and ripped it open impatiently. She glanced down at the thin slip of paper enclosed within.

"Fuck. What now? Library fines?" she muttered under her breath, shoving the slip of paper back into its envelope.

She grabbed her bag off the counter and hurried to the door, grabbing a bagel from the basket of rolls on the dining table on the way. "Bye mom, dad."

"Bye hun," Joyce took another bite out of her piece of toast and continued to read her newspaper. Joyce was only just beginning to notice the big change in her daughters. Kathryn, who was always so sweet and innocent, was now becoming more troublesome; Buffy, who was always in her room or out with friends, was now becoming more responsible. Dawnie however...well they're her adolescent years, she'll be fine... **Yeah, just fine. With Buffy's influence, she'll hopefully be more responsible. Especially since she started helping me out at the gallery on a few afternoons. It's good experience for her.**

"Morning." Kathryn snapped, reaching over the table for a slice of the baguette Mai Lee had been asked to buy each morning, just for her. She knew that if she greet them on the one day her parents were actually still in the house at breakfast time, her mother would reprimand her for her bad manners. **Fuck manners. Who gives a shit about manners these days...**

"Don't snap at your mother," Hank Summers told her patiently, sipping slowly from his cup of steaming hot espresso.

"Morning," Kathryn said again, with exaggerated politeness and a nice bright smile that went unnoticed anyway.

"That's better," Hank wasn't even paying attention to his eldest daughter (by 20 minutes), his eyes were transfixed on the document he received in the fax early that morning as he still had more than half of it left to finish going over.

Kathryn sighed and walked into the kitchen to have a glass of water—8 glasses a day keeps skin healthy and glowing. She gulped it down and thrust the glass into Mai Lee's hands and stormed out of the kitchen, chewing angrily on her baguette slice.

"Excuse me madam, but I think Miss Kathryn is in bad temper," Mai Lee spoke softly and carefully to Joyce.

"Isn't she always lately? I just hope she doesn't throw a tantrum-"

There was a loud smash of a vase and everyone in the dining room winced.

"I think she already have bad tantrum," Mai Lee said before hurrying to inspect the damage.

A few seconds, a few more smashes and loud shouts later, Joyce was slightly amused to see Mai Lee running back into the safety of the dining room. "Miss Kathryn is having very bad tantrum. One mirror, two vases." She held up her fingers to show the number and accented her statement with a nod.

Joyce shook her head and threw her napkin onto the table, walking out of the room to see what on earth was happening. She found not only the one mirror and two vases that Mai Lee mentioned, but two collector's edition porcelain plates she and Hank had received as a wedding present from her brother, a clock and a dent in the wall which looked as if a shoe was thrown at it. There was no Kathryn to be found.

Looking out the window, she saw the taillights of a convertible leaving the curb. Joyce sighed again and began picking up the pieces of her porcelain plates.

*****

"Giles, what's this?" Buffy held up the envelope to show the librarian who'd become like a second father to her. In actual fact, he was her uncle—on her mother's side. When she thought more about it, it just seemed gross that she considered her mother's brother to be her father figure. Incest much.

"What?" Rupert Giles took the thin slip from inside the envelope out to inspect it, squinting slightly at the small print.

"Fines. Total—twelve dollars. It says it right there, twelve dollars. Twelve dollars! I bet the book wasn't even worth that much... Plus, I returned them...eventually."

"I didn't send this. Must've been that replacement for when I was absent on yesterday and on Monday. I was in all weekend with a terrible cold." Giles glanced in puzzlement at the blue screen in front of him. The computer science teacher had taught him how to use it, but he'd had so much trouble paying attention that he missed the whole thing.

"Poor Uncie Rupie," Buffy said in a childish voice, but returned it to normal afterwards. "You okay?"

"Yes, thank you. Well, umm, I'll get this sorted out with the system and...ah, you should get to class," Giles rubbed his forehead and pulled open the drawer under the computer in search of the information booklet the teacher had given him. Just then, the bell rang loudly and the sound of people rushing to class soon followed.

"Knew I could count on ya. Ciao!" Buffy hurried out the library's doors, just in time to smash into a large, averagely dressed male.

Buffy bit her lip. She didn't want to be tardy for her lesson with Mrs Peterson; she's always strict about lateness in the first few weeks of the term. Buffy picked up her books and accepted the other two she'd dropped from the stranger. She'd never seen him around before, even from glancing briefly at him when she had to flick the mass of hair off her face, she could tell he was both new AND popular. **Probably drives a fast car too. I bet my sister's had a go with him already.**

"I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going..." Buffy kept her eyes to the ground; looking for anything else she might've missed.

"Hi, I'm Angel. You've probably heard of me." Angel held out his hand for her to shake.

"I'm sorry, I'm late for Mrs Peterson's class," Buffy picked up her keys from the ground, "I have to go." She shook his hand and smiled quickly, "I'm Buffy," she introduced hurriedly and dashed off down the hallway.

She almost forgot about the fact that it was Angel Ferguson she had bumped into. As in Angel Ferguson: newly transferred star quarterback, hottest guy to step through SHS's doors.

**Was it just me or did that girl look exactly like Kathryn? Except with blonde hair. I must be hallucinating...Kathryn wouldn't go blonde, nor would she act like that and call herself "Buffy"...**

Angel shook his head to try to see if it may've been his head playing with him again. **I need more sleep...** "Ferguson? What are you doing standing in the middle of the hall like a fool?" the football coach barked. They had an emergency practice for the game they were to have with the neighbouring city's team from Oxnard High. Not surprisingly, the Oxnard team was called the Oxnard Oxen. Angel had heard from only his first day at the school, that Oxnard were their rivals and that the girls who attended were the "worst type of tramp still being accepted" as Cordelia had put it during the discussion held at lunch that day. Speaking of Cordelia, just the mention of him being the new star quarterback for Sunnydale had here throwing herself at him. The display was just so...disturbing, he hadn't looked twice at her. Truth was, Angel had a thing for blondes, though since he met Kathryn, he decided to have a go at dating a brunette. But now...

"Sorry coach, I thought I just had a hallucination," Angel said dreamily, not even looking at the coach.

"Well then snap out of it and get your ass in the locker room now before I kick it in there, Ferguson!"

"Sure coach. I'll be right there."

*****

Angel couldn't think of anyone except the blonde who'd bumped into him all through his classes for the rest of the day. Maybe he was imagining things again…the side effects of dating Darla for three months. He shook it off and tried to concentrate on the English lesson.

He was happy to hear the bell ring, it meant that he'd see Kathryn again and be able to get his mind off "Buffy"—if her mood was better than in the morning, that is. **If I say someone doesn't exist, they don't exist. "Buffy" was a figment of my imagination.**

"Cordelia!" Angel called out to the cheerleader. It wasn't too surprising that she didn't hesitate to respond to his call.

"Angel. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" she said in voice that made Angel want to throw up. **How many hints does she need before she actually gets the picture?**

"Um, Kathryn's party. How are the plans coming along?"

"Champagne, dips, finger food, cake and presents. Music is not my domain. Ask Harmony, she'll tell you all about it." Cordelia smiled brightly and continued in her original direction toward her locker.

Angel groaned. Harmony was an annoying little dimwit who only got so far socially because she was a good conversationalist—when you wanted to talk about rumours and gossip. Angel was no gossip queen and would not nor had reason to risk his sanity by talking to the girl. **Who cares about the music? We'll probably end up using the stuff they have at the Summers' anyway. It didn't make sense to bring any when there was already such a large collection on hand. Boy, they have good taste...**

Angel ran after Cordelia, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Cordelia. Does Kathryn have, by any chance, a sister who looks almost exactly the same?"

"You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"Kathryn's got a twin. I assumed you knew." Cordelia frowned, wondering why Kathryn would keep the fact from him of all people.

"A twin? How come she never told me?"

"She's got this whole issue about her. I generally don't pay attention to her when she talks about her. Too taxing."

"Cordelia, what's her twin's name?"

"Why? You prefer blondes all of a sudden? Cos I can tell you that Kathryn's a 100% natural blonde."

"She is?"

"Of course. Her hair is just *so* unnaturally dark."

"Aren't you both the same colour?"

"No way!"

"Look, Cordelia, could you please tell what her twin's name is?" Angel asked more insistently.

"Her name is Buffy, okay?" Cordelia shook her head. **Why is he interested in everyone except me? Cos I'm not blonde?** "God, what's your trauma?" Cordelia made a face and proceeded to unlock her locker. **If he's so picky, then he isn't worth my time.**

Angel recoiled slightly, letting the information sink in. **So now I know.** "Thanks Cordy," Angel said dazedly, "it clears a few things up for me."

"You're welcome," Cordelia replied, letting her defences down briefly, appreciating his gentlemanly politeness, not to mention his incredibly good looks when she turned to face him again. "The party starts at 12, don't be late. Don't forget to bring a plate of finger food. Everyone has to. Just don't bring chips ok? Cos a dozen other people will. And chips are really high in fat."

"Sure," Angel smiled slightly. It was enough to make Cordelia change her mind again. **Too cute to ignore…I swear, I'll have him...eventually.** Angel couldn't help smiling at how easy it was to find out stuff around here. He was glad Cordelia hadn't given a second thought to his motives.

For now though, being with Kathryn was enough. **When we split, which is inevitable, Buffy will be the first person I want to ask out. I hope Kathryn doesn't mind...**


	5. Part 5 - Easy As Pie

**Part 5**

Kathryn spotted Cordelia talking to her boyfriend in the hallway. They seemed friendly, yet sour to one another at the same time. It didn't upset her as much as she thought it would, which she found...strange. Kathryn had never dated anyone who'd cheated on her...yet. **And hopefully never, too.**

"Kathryn!" Cordelia called out to the brunette. Although she really didn't like Cordelia that much, no one else around these parts had as much taste as she preferred. Really, no one in this wretched town could separate Dior from Vuitton, even if the monogram was printed all over it, the exceptions being Cordelia and that strange Anya girl whom Kathryn sometimes saw in the hallways.

"What's wrong now?" she asked impatiently. "And please don't do that again. I don't appreciate being called after like a dog." She had more to do than just hanging around in the hallways talking. Mrs La Croix had asked her to come to the faculty staffroom for "a word". Probably more like a lecture.

"I was talking to Angel and he was asking about Buffy. And please don't talk to me that way either. I don't appreciate being treated like your serving girl," Cordelia said, as she threw the last of her books into her locker.

"Sure, whatever. Why the hell was he asking about Buffy? What did he ask?"

"Calm down already. I swear, sometimes I wonder why you get all paranoid. You *always* get the guy. Me? I'm poor lonely Cordy, overshadowed by the mighty-"

"Cordelia, just tell me."

"Why didn't you ever tell him you had a twin? I think he feels betrayed..." Cordelia had put on fake puppy dog eyes and matching pout and struggled not to laugh at Kathryn's reaction.

"Stop it Cordelia," Kathryn hit her friend playfully on the arm. "What else did he ask?"

"Just her name, and well, that's about it. Did you know he prefers blondes?" Cordelia slammed her locker closed and turned to face the momentarily distressed brunette.

"What! You mean..."

"Yeah, I mean." Cordelia turned to face Kathryn, all in seriousness. "When you two are over, he might want to go out with your sister."

"Who wants to date your sister?" Harmony asked loudly, butting abruptly into the conversation.

"No one. Go away, Harmony," Cordelia excused the gaping blonde without so much as a glance.

"Fine, I don't want to know anyway." Harmony stuck her nose in the air and stalked away from the scene, followers in tow. The gossip queen would probably have it running in the rumour mill by the next morning.

Kathryn grumbled, exasperated beyond help. She stomped her foot angrily and snarled at no one in particular. "The little bitch..."

"Harmony or your sister?" Cordelia raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow in question. It amused her to see Kathryn manipulate men and get frustrated by them at the same time. It was like...an oxymoron.

"Both. Now, if you don't mind, my fucking French teacher wants to lecture me about my fucking homework. See you later." Kathryn smiled sarcastically (teeth and all) and brushed past Cordelia, headed towards the Languages faculty staffroom.

"Sure. Good luck."

"Well appreciated," Kathryn shouted back from halfway down the hallway.

*****

"Miss Summers, it seems as if your homework has been incomplete for the past few days, I need to have a word with you on that. It seems as if you don't exhibit the enthusiasm most have for learning foreign languages. After all, you DID choose the subject yourself," Mrs La Croix's thick French accent made it hard for Kathryn to understand what the woman was talking about, which delayed her reaction by a few moments.

"Well actually-"

"Your parents made you pick it? I don't care. You come to my class to learn, and I come to my classes to teach. Since there is a sharing of this responsibility of this commitment, I expect co-operation. I will not tolerate students who do not complete their homework in time." Mrs La Croix snapped at her student like a crab to its prey, showing no mercy until its task is complete and its stomach fed.

"Mrs La Croix, I'm trying as hard as I can, but I just don't understand enough of the language to complete the homework. I only started the course this year, and it seems I'm way behind in everything. It's been at least one or two years since I last did French." Kathryn spoke sincerely, not allowing her temper to get the better of her. The façade she tried to present for herself always slipped whenever her temper got the best of her. Like Katherina Minola from Taming of the Shrew, only less anti-feministic. Seriously, how nice was it to be known as "Katherine the curst" by whole cities of men? Just about as nice as being known as "Kathryn the bitch" by a whole school of students. Although she delighted in the ruin of others, she'd never want to be called a 'shrew'. Her façade was slipping fast; even her parents had begun to notice.

"Students who are behind must catch up. It is through no fault of mine that you don't concentrate in my class."

"I'm very sorry Mrs La Croix, I'll try, I will," Kathryn pleaded with her French teacher, exercising her skills in manipulation to her advantage.

"Be sure or be even sorrier. You're dismissed," Mrs La Croix closed the door in Kathryn's face.

Kathryn jumped back, just before it closed, ensuring the safety of her nose. She glared at the annoyingly green staffroom door, fuming at the audacity in the strange woman they called a French teacher. "Fucking moron. Why don't we ever get any good teachers in this fucking dungeon...?" she muttered under her breath, determined to have a nice chat with the counsellor to get her subject changed. "Call me Kathryn Merteuil, but I think she'd be even more suited to the name than me."

*****

"Hey Giles. Mind if we crash?" Xander asked the dumbfounded Brit while seating himself in one of the chairs and rested his feet on the spotless oak table.

"Xander, please get your feet off the table. It was cleaned just this morning with those special detergents to make it all nice and shiny. No need to make it any more soiled as it is," Giles took his glasses off, cleaning them with the handkerchief in his vest's breast pocket.

"Sorry Giles, but it was just too hot and muggy outside that we couldn't resist paying you a visit," Willow smiled and took a seat beside Xander, making it a point to shove Xander's feet off the table to get through.

"Nonsense. It's a nice, sunny, Californian day. You should spend it outside," Giles forced a grin, knowing that they'd stay, ignoring whatever he might say or do.

"Come on Giles. Lighten up. You know you can't fool us." Buffy patted his back and took a seat on the edge of the table and swung her legs like a young child.

"Not even if I said that some nasty demon would pop out from under the place you're sitting and eat anyone in his path?"

"Nup. Now if you said that there was one of those food-sampling festivals down at the mall, you might get me outta here. Stress on 'might'. They had some really good stuff down there last time. Great, now I'm hungry..."

"Poor Xander. Nothing to eat since the six Twinkies he had this morning because the cafeteria's having meatloaf day. Boohoo." Buffy made a sad face, with the sorrowful eyes and pouted lower lip and a slight tilt of the head. The perfect addition would be two cute pigtails on either side of her head, with pink bows on tied to cover the elastics, but unfortunately, it just didn't go with the "mature" look that she wanted to project towards her parents.

"Hey! It's not my fault it's meatloaf day! I don't wanna die of food poisoning, thank you *very* much." Xander protested. You never knew what kinds of things they put in the meatloaf or even if it was made of meat at all. The way it tasted didn't give any clues either. Not that anyone would ever want to eat more than one bite of it anyway. Unless you somehow possessed no properly working tastebuds or were very, very, very starved.

Just then, Faith walked into the room, carrying a few books in one hand and her other hand in her pocket. "Figured you guys would be in here," she said and spotted the librarian behind the counter obviously looking for something amongst the shelves she was sure was under there and since she'd never actually been behind (or ever wanted to) she guessed she'd never find out. "Hey G-Man. Lookin' for somethin'?"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me that again. I had enough trouble weening Xander off it," Giles' voice was muffled from below the counter. "Aha! Here it is."

"What is it?"

"The instructions for using the new software for the library. I was hoping maybe Willow could teach me how to use it. The computer science teacher tried to teach me, but I couldn't, for the life of me, pay attention." Giles pulled out a small stack of paper, stapled twice on the left edge so that it would open like a book; specially made different to suit Giles.

"Ooh, I think someone has the hots for Miss Calendar," Willow teased, flipping through the booklet briefly. Giles hadn't heard the comment, his concentration focused entirely upon on the computer screen in front of him. "Oh, this is easy. I could teach you this in 10 minutes. Easy as pie."

"Easy as pie? How is pie easy? I tried making those microwavable ones, but it got kinda burnt," his expression turned sheepish as everyone turned their heads toward the boy, disbelieving what he'd just said. Xander Harris, the food lover of the millennium, can't microwave a pie properly? That's harder than burning water.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," Buffy stated matter-of-factly.

"Hey, not everyone has a Mai Lee to microwave it for them! Have I ever mentioned how much I love Mai Lee's cooking?"

"Yes," everyone said in unison, which Xander reacted to in rage.

"Hey!"

"Calm down, Xand. I was just joking. And actually, I *do* microwave my own pies but, well, I just don't eat them anymore. They might be almost as worse as the meatloaf."

"Sure. The discussion was making me too hungry for my own good anyway." Xander shifted in his seat until the sudden thought popped into his head. He'd almost forgotten it completely too... "Hey Buffster! Whatcha planning for your birthday this year? Cake? There's gotta be cake."

"Stop thinking with your stomach Xander," Faith said, and sat down in the chair next to him where Willow had been sitting before. Willow was meanwhile busying herself teaching the very lost-looking Giles how to use the program that the school had newly purchased.

"I dunno. I heard that they're throwing a big party for Kathryn at our house, so I think I might stick around. Food, drinks, music, bitches and players of Sunnydale High. Sounds like a party to me."

"Ooh, can we crash?"

"Willow, it's *my* house. Course you can." Buffy smiled when she saw Willow grin at the prospect. Willow never liked any of the popular people Kathryn was friends with, but she'd always been curious as to what it was like in the 'It' crowd. Sure, curiosity killed the cat, but Willow had given up believing in sayings that lacked any sort of logical origin a long time ago. Even if the curiosity part entailed throwing herself to the sharks.

"Oh yeah. I wonder if Oz will wanna come..."

"Speaking of the incredibly tacit guy himself, where is Oz today? You two have been joined at the hip for the past month or so. It seems...odd," Xander said.

"He's helping the drama club with the PA system in the hall. They have a meeting or something in a few days and the wiring is everywhere. A whole big mess that'll take at least a day to fix since they have to-"

"Okay, one sentence answers are good. You don't have to explain it to me step-by-step."

"Speaking of boyfriends, what's up with you Spike?" Buffy turned to look at Faith, who was busily staring at her hands in guilt.

"Don't ask." Faith bit out sharply, her actions changing from staring at her hands to wringing them. She seemed to be on edge, like an extreme case of paranoia.

"Sure. Forget I mentioned it," Buffy held up her palms in defence. "Anyway, do you guys know Angel Ferguson? The new quarterback? I bumped into him today."

"Really? Any sparks?" Willow asked enthusiastically. She'd finally gotten Giles to understand how to use the program and was happy about both Giles' new skill and Buffy finally meeting a guy.

"Willow! I only met him for like 3 seconds and then I had to run cos I had Mrs Peterson next. But as far as looks go, he's not a bad choice for a quarterback." Buffy grinned happily at the memory. Lost in her la-la land of fantasy, Buffy didn't hear Faith until she said her name for the fourth time.

"Buffy!"

"What?"

"Isn't he dating Kathryn?"

"He is?"

"You didn't know? They hit it off the first day he was here. He rejected Cordelia, cos from what I heard, she was throwing herself all over him. But yeah, Kathryn and Angel are an item."

"He rejected Cordelia? There's three words you don't hear in the one sentence very often. That's... interesting..." Willow saw the deflated look on her best friend's face. In all the time she and Buffy had been friends, Buffy had had a total of two boyfriends. Willow frowned. **Am I a bad friend? Would raising the count to a grand total of three make her happier? She seems more...depressed lately.** "Very interesting."


	6. Part 6 - Dinner at the Summers'

**Part 6**

"Buffy, what's wrong? And don't give me a 'nothing' or anything like that cos I know you and something's wrong. You've got something-face." Willow was concerned with her friend's constant quietness and lack of the usual Buffy-ness that made her "Buffy Summers" instead of "inanimate object." They were sitting on a bench under a tree, waiting for Mrs. Summers to arrive as they were all going to help out for the grand opening of Joyce's newly discovered talents which was to commence in a week's time.

"No I don't." Buffy tucked her hair behind her ears and turned to face Willow. "See? No something-face."

"Uh-uh. That's a something face. Hey Xander, is it or is it not a something-face?" Willow tugged on Xander's arm and looked at him in a way that asked him to agree with her, while discreetly hiding her strange facial expressions from the friend in question.

"Well, duh. The word 'something' is written in nice neat red marker across your forehead," Xander replied, using hand gestures to demonstrate the imagery further. He turned to face Willow, making his own strange facial expressions. He'd only arrived just then and didn't have a single clue what they were talking about.

"Gee, it must be..." the sight of Angel standing next to his Mercedes kissing her sister distracted Buffy, her breath and the rest of her sentence was caught in her throat, "very attractive."

Willow snapped her out of it by shouting in Buffy's ear, effectively gaining her attention. Buffy had been spacing out more often lately and it was beginning to really annoy her friends, especially Willow.

"What?" Buffy closed her eyes briefly and held her head in her hands, running her hands through her hair in the process. She looked Willow in the eyes and blinked away the small pangs of tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Willow saw the way her eyes were sparkling with tears and her softened in surprise. She never knew how deep Buffy's crush went... **Well now I do, don't I? And I had to learn the hard way...**

Willow led her friend away from the others (Spike and Faith had arrived separately and were now arguing madly with Xander as their referee and part of the school as their audience) and rested her hands on Buffy's shoulders.

"You like him that much?" Willow knew the answer already, but she needed to know for sure before she royally stuffed anything up.

Buffy nodded, biting on her lip and a single glistening tear breaking free to run rampant upon her cheek. "I don't even know why I like him. I've met him once and already I've fallen head over heels for him." Buffy smiled at her friend, as if she expected Willow to laugh right in her face. She wiped the tear off her cheek with her hand and shrugged shyly. "You must think I'm crazy or something. It's okay. I always thought there was something wrong with me. A screw loose in that mechanical brain o' mine." Buffy used her index finger and thumb to imitate a gun shooting into her temple.

"Buffy, don't do that." Willow gently removed Buffy's hand from its position and patted it in reassurance. After all, wasn't that what friends were for? "I don't think you're crazy. I sorta even know what you mean, and it isn't crazy to feel this way. Maybe it's even love at first sight." Willow grinned at the prospect. She'd always been a firm believer in true love, love at first sight and destiny—well, those things in general—but she'd never expected to ever encounter it in her lifetime. Like déjà vu.

"I don't believe in love at first sight, Will." Buffy closed her eyes, squeezing the tears from her eyes, letting them fall freely from her eyes. She pulled away from Willow and started walking toward her mother's car waiting car, wiping the tears from her face along the way.

"Buffy!" Willow chased after her, carefully dodging the still-bickering Spike and Faith. Willow grabbed Buffy's arm and spun her around. "It doesn't matter if you don't believe in it. It just...happens. Sometimes fate just needs a little push in the right direction." Willow smiled and Buffy couldn't but let her mouth curve into a slight smile.

Buffy enveloped the red head into a quick hug and allowed her smile to turn into a grin. "Okay. I trust you."

Willow pulled back and turned to see Spike and Faith kissing. **I guess they got that worked out...for now. I wonder how long until the next argument...$10 on 1 week and 3 days.**

"Come on guys! Mrs. Summers is waiting for us!" She picked up her bag from the ground and slung it over her shoulder.

"So where's Oz?" Buffy asked, picking up her own bag up from next to Willow's. She seemed to be back to her usual bright, happy Buffy-ness, no longer the mopey, broody Buffy-not.

"Oh, he'll drop by later to help. He has that Dingoes rehearsal for tomorrow's gig."

"Ever wondered how they came up with that name?"

"One too many times, Buffy, one too many. I think it had something to do with this time Devon's family went on holiday to Australia and his baby brother almost got attacked by one of the dingoes at one of those free-range zoo things."

"Really? That's...unique."

"I heard it from one of their groupies, so I don't think it's true."

"Pity."

*****

Joyce placed the last flower into the vase and stepped back to look at the arrangement. 'Just a nice, normal vase of flowers to spruce up the entryway a little,' she'd said when she thought of it.

"I think we're done now." She gazed at the walls surrounding her and found herself surprised that they had done the job so quickly. All the lights were shining in the right direction, all the frames had been hung and checked with a spirit level and all the items on display had been tagged and catalogued. There was still a little bit left to do, but it was just good to have the entire display up and running a whole week ahead.

"Now, how should I repay you all for helping? And don't give me all that crap about it being a favour or any of that other stuff. Just name it," Joyce saw Xander's face light up, "within certain limitations of course."

Xander's face fell back to normal.

"Really, Mrs. Summers, it's okay, you don't have to." Willow closed the lid of the crate in front of her and pushed it into its place in the storage room.

"Don't be silly, of course I do."

"Stop bickering like little old ladies. I know what you all want, so stop acting as if you don't want to seem greedy." Buffy zipped up her bag and collected their coats from her mother's office. "You all want to have some more of Mai Lee's ab-fab cooking." Buffy stated, very matter-of-factly.

Five heads nodded enthusiastically.

"Right, so there we go. Settled." Buffy handed their coats back and shrugged her own on. It could sometimes get a little chilly at night during spring around these parts.

"Lead the way, Captain America." Xander tilted his head to one side. "Are my jokes getting dumb or what?"

"No comment," Buffy replied, holding the door open for everyone to get through.

"That'd be a 'damn straight, Xander, you're jokes are getting dumb and dumber' right?"

"Just keep in mind that I didn't say it. You did." Buffy smiled and turned on the security system, locking the door behind herself and her mother.

"Hey, I take offence to that!"

*****

"Mmm, Angel," Kathryn groaned against his kiss, pressing her body against his. She knew she was grounded, but this wasn't breaking the rules, right? She was at home, Dawn was studying upstairs (the only reason for keeping things from going further—for today), she only had a little bit of homework to complete and Mai Lee was right on task with the cooking of dinner.

Angel's hand slipped under her shirt, lightly caressing the soft flesh, tongues duelling all the while.

"Kathryn!"

She pulled away immediately at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Mom! What are you doing here so early?" Kathryn turned her gaze to the half broken clock across the hallway to realise how late it really was. Training her gaze upon the small gathering behind her mother, she spotted Buffy and a few of her loser friends. "And we have company too?"

Kathryn raised an eyebrow at the group standing in the hallway, staring at the both of them. She ran a hand through her hair to straighten it out as it had become, well, messy would be an understatement considering the way it had been messed up during the time they'd spent making out on the couch.

"Care to explain this young lady?" Joyce asked hotly, walking into the room to talk face-to-face with her once most prized daughter.

"I thought that it was pretty obvious, don't you think?"

"Don't smart-mouth me, Kathryn. Explanation. Now."

"You're just trying to make me admit it. Admit that I broke the rules along with the stuff I broke this morning. Fuck it; I don't care what you think. I was fucking making-out with my fucking boyfriend. Satisfied?"

"Far from it. Now go to your room."

Kathryn turned to face her boyfriend, giving him a slow, passionate kiss to spite her mother before leaving the room. She noticed that her twin were not amongst those staring in the hallway, but dismissed the thought as she climbed the stairs to her room. **Oh yeah, I'm in deep shit now...**

"So, Kathryn's Boyfriend, do you happen to have a name?" Joyce asked calmly.

"Angel Ferguson. Nice to finally meet you Mrs. Summers," Angel held shook her hand and stayed standing while she sat. The others had gone upstairs to check on Buffy, for what reason, Angel had no clue of. **Buffy. Buffy's up there. In this house. This very LARGE house.**

"You understand she'll be punished don't you Angel?"

"Of course."

"No more convertible, okay? She'll be walking, like Buffy. And if she doesn't like that arrangement, then she can take the bus. I just don't like the idea of Kathryn Summers behind a steering wheel. I'm sure you know what I mean by that." Joyce smiled at the brown-haired young man across the room.

"This won't happen again, you understand? She is grounded until her and her sister's birthday and she'll be coming to my gallery every afternoon to help out. I know this is all very strict, but I have to take the necessary precautions to make sure."

"I understand, Mrs. Summers," Angel picked up his coat from over the back of one of the armchairs and shrugged it on with ease.

"I'm sure you're a nice young man, but it's apparent to me that it's my daughter who is at fault here. You're welcome to stay for dinner if you want. Mai Lee has made extra anyway. How about it?" Joyce didn't know why she'd taken such an instant liking to Angel, maybe it was charisma or charm, but she couldn't help but approve of Kathryn's taste in men. **He's kinda good-looking; in a dark and mysterious sort of way.**

"Of course. From what I've heard, Mai Lee is quite the experienced cook." Angel took off his coat and was about to place it back where it'd been before when Mrs. Summers took it from his hands and hung it on the hat stand near the front door of the house.

Joyce laughed, "Really? Whatever you heard about her cooking, it's probably true."

Joyce led him to the dining room, table laden with delicious looking (and probably delicious tasting) foods of many different types.

Shortly after, Buffy, Willow, Xander, Oz, Faith and Spike entered the well lit room, 5 sets of eyes bulging at the sight of all the different dishes.

"I wonder if you can learn how to make this stuff on Yan Can Cook..." Xander mumbled under his breath at the mouth-watering sight of the assorted food Mai Lee had made, ranging from Chinese to a little bit of Western foods (the jacket potatoes looked especially good as they were still steaming, straight from the oven).

Buffy felt uncomfortable in Angel's presence, but the reminder of what Willow had said that afternoon and just then—in her room—eased her nerves. She even managed to enjoy herself, relishing in the fact that it'd been the first time conversation actually took place at the dinner table in...months.

She even found herself laughing at another of Xander's lame jokes (the kind you hear from someone who's heard it from someone else who's heard it from someone else...and so on and so forth).

The time passed so quickly, they didn't even notice until Hank arrived home, picking up a container of Mai Lee's dinner to take to work since the case they were working on was of "utmost importance and undivided attention".

"Bye Will, Oz, Xand," she waved and turned her attention to Spike and Faith who were dawdling with the couple-y-ness.

"Bye you two. Don't have another fight, 'kay?"

"Count on it, pet. See you tomorrow." Spike's arm was wrapped around Faith's waist, accidentally taking her with him when he turned to head down to the car.

"Seeya, B!" Faith called when Spike stopped briefly for her to say his goodbyes as well. They had plans for tonight and they didn't want to waste any time on salutations.

"Bye."

The only one left was Angel, who they were all waiting for since he had offered to drive everyone home. He put on his jacket (again) and stepped through the door and turned abruptly to talk to her. "We were never properly introduced."

"Buffy Summers," she stuck her hand out for a handshake.

"Angel Ferguson," he shook her hand and was surprised to find that his skin tingled when his touched hers. It could've been the chilly night air, but instincts told him otherwise.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Ferguson."

"Likewise, Miss Summers."


	7. Part 7 - Birthday Gals

**Part 7**

A week later, Spike and Faith were still a couple, Oz had met Willow's parents, Kathryn had had a small argument with Angel about the Homecoming dance and practically nothing changed except for the weather.

Buffy, Willow and Xander were sitting at one of the tables on SHS campus, waiting for school to start for yet another boring Thursday morning. Willow was cramming for a Physics quiz, Xander was sitting on the table playing with his Gameboy and Buffy was sitting on the other side of Willow, watching the world go by.

"So, Buffster, what would you like for your birthday? I know where to get limited edition Lois and Clark action figures if you're interested," Xander was grinning like a madman. Sometimes he just got too excited over some things...namely comics, Star Wars merchandise, Superman...and food. Willow just looked at him as if he'd grown a potbelly and pronounced himself as Buddha.

"Sorry, Xand, it just won't go well with the wallpaper," Buffy replied sarcastically. She tilted her head to see that the lovely weather caused there to be only the one cloud hanging overhead. The blueness of the sky was sometimes so blue that she wondered if something was wrong with the sky.

"Gee, we're awful quiet today," Faith said, approaching the three friends. On her arm was Spike, who looked happier than ever. Even more so than the time he got so pissed at a party that he started seeing naked women in every direction.

Xander turned the game off and sat in a lotus position. "Mmmmm," Xander hummed softly with his eyes closed. "'Tis called meditation, Faith. Calming, quiet and relaxing serenity." He spoke in a funny voice, a mix between his own and a bad imitation of an old Indian man.

"Very funny, Xander. Now stop it, you look like an idiot."

Xander opened one eye to look at the brunette, "Do I?"

"Yep," she replied, pushing him out of the way to make room herself and Spike to sit.

"Hey, hey, watch the physics!" Willow said when her physics book almost got sat on.

"Sorry, Red. Didn't see it there," Spike shifted and saw Buffy in daydream mode again. "Earth to Buffy, come in Buffy." He waved a hand in front of her face.

"What? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking how much that cloud looks like a jelly donut. I haven't had one in weeks," Buffy looked at Spike, smiling sheepishly.

"Bloody right, it does look like a sodding donut."

"Great, now I'm hungry...anyone got anything to eat?"

"Xander! Is that all you think about?"

"Actually, no, but I don't think you'd want to hear about it."

"Xander!"

*****

"Okay, Harmony's bringing drinks, I'm bringing chips and dips, and everyone else is bringing finger food, got it?" Cordelia asked her entourage, which was answered by a chorus of yeses and nods. "Good. Don't forget, Sunday, noon. Bring presents. Kathryn's eighteenth birthday has to be perfect."

Cordelia honestly didn't like having to organise parties like she were organising a bunch of foot soldiers, but sometimes you had to do what you had to do. Kathryn had been her best friend since junior high and it was important to her that Kathryn has a perfect 18th birthday. No matter what everyone thought, the two brunettes treated each other like friends, even though they were both certified bitches.

So what if they thought more than half of the population of SHS were losers? Was it a crime to have an opinion?

"What about cake?" Harmony asked.

"Duh, Harmony, Angel will take care of that," Cordelia said, right when the bell rung to signalise the beginning of the first lesson. She turned and almost jumped when she found Angel standing right in front of her.

"I'll take care of what?"

"The cake. It's tradition to have the boyfriend buy the cake. One year we had three cakes and we didn't want to eat them all cos they were all covered in this horrible fattening cream stuff. See, this year we won't have the same problem cos we know we'll only have one cake and hopefully you'll know not to buy one covered in cream."

"Sure...three? How one earth did she have three b-" Angel paused and looked at Cordelia's sheepish expression, his mouth turning into an 'o' shape.

"Sunday at noon, don't be late!" Cordelia shouted over her shoulder as she headed toward her science classroom.

*****

It was Sunday, noon, and Angel was nervous. In his hands were a cake and two different gifts, one for Kathryn and one for Buffy. The cake was a low-fat chocolate mud cake fresh from the bakery on Main that sold those fluffy cinnamon pastries he sometimes liked to have for breakfast. Starbucks was right next door, so it was convenient for him to have a nice healthy breakfast, even if it slightly resembled Holly's in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

The roses that lined the path were flowering madly, scenting the air with a mixture of different fragrances.

Angel stared at the doorbell, wishing he wouldn't have to ring it. There would be a one in five chance that it would be Buffy answering the door. He hesitantly moved his finger toward the button, but was beaten by a finger with a perfectly painted nail, which was attached to a hand, which was attached to an arm, which was attached to...

"Cordelia. Hi. I brought the cake." Angel said nervously, awaiting the person who should reach the door first.

"Relax, the doorbell won't bite. Nor will anyone behind that door except maybe Mr. Gordo."

"Come again?"

"Mr. Gordo. Buffy's cat. An exquisite creature if I do say so myself, but Kathryn really hates him. Something about it being evil around her or something," Cordelia laughed at the imagery.

The door flew open, revealing Buffy with a half eaten croissant in one hand, a magazine in the other and Mr. Gordo at her feet. She didn't even register who was at the door because she was concentrating on the article in the magazine and trying not to trip over her cat at the same time. "Come in, make yourselves at home."

"That was rude," Cordelia said before rushing into the house to find Kathryn.

"Sure, whatever Cordy," Buffy replied, taking a bite out of her croissant. She started closing the door, not realising there had been two people there in the first place.

"Wait, Buffy-"

"Oh my God, I'm sorry. It's just this article. It's so horrible how people kill those poor little baby seals for fashion." Buffy took another bite from her croissant, and almost fell over when Mr. Gordo started slinking around her feet. "Mr. Gordo, stop it."

"Happy birthday. Nice cat." Angel entered the house and closed the door behind him.

"Thanks." Buffy smiled when she noticed that Mr. Gordo abandoned her in favour of Angel, who was now trying not to come crashing to the ground, cake and all. "Mr. Gordo, I said stop. Ooh, cake." Buffy took the cake from him and headed down the long hallway to the very last doorway with Mr. Gordo at her heels.

Angel laughed and followed her to the kitchen.

"Mai Lee, here's the cake. Make sure you put in the fridge or it'll melt." Buffy handed the box to Mai Lee and finished the last of her pastry.

"How'd you know it's the meltable kind?"

"Well you don't look like the cream type. And I suppose Cordelia talked to you about the cream issue anyway, so...low-fat?" Buffy took a glass from the cupboard and started making coffee using the complicated looking machine on the other side of the large kitchen.

"Psychic now, are we?"

"No, just experience."

"Oh, I just remembered. I have a gift for you. Here," Angel handed her one of the presents from the two. "I hope it isn't too much."

Buffy opened the box to reveal a silver ID bracelet with her name engraved on the tag; just the right length to go around Buffy's wrist. "You didn't have to."

"I wanted to."

"It's beautiful, thank you."

"Mai Lee can y-" Kathryn stopped, surprised to find her boyfriend in the kitchen with her sister. "Angel, you're here. We thought you went missing or something cos Cordy said she was at the door at the same time as you and you still hadn't found the room we were in. Oh, where's the cake?"

"In the fridge. Low-fat chocolate." Buffy answered, leaving the room with her coffee and her present.

"Ooh, yum. I love low-fat chocolate cakes. Is it a mud cake?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Experience." Kathryn wrapped her arms around his waist and said, "What? No happy birthday kiss?"

Angel smiled down at the brunette attached around his middle and took her mouth in a long, sweet kiss. "Happy birthday Kathryn."

"Yeah, happy birthday to me. Now, where's my present?"

*****

"Willow, how much do you think this cost?" Buffy asked, showing her the bracelet she received from Angel.

"Well, it depends. What kind of metal do you think it is?"

"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one who tells me what metal it is?"

"Well, if I'm right, then it's sterling silver. If it is, then I estimate that it's around...ooh, fifty or sixty odd dollars."

"Do you know what this means then?"

"He likes you? I think it's pretty obvious that he does. Well, considering he's hardly spoken to you and already he's giving you personalised gifts," Willow took the bracelet from the box and went about putting it on Buffy's wrist.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? The guy you have the hots for feels the same way and he gave you this beautiful birthday present and you aren't gonna wear it? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?"

"Yeah, but it feels wrong. He's still with Kathryn."

"Buffy, Buffy, Buffy. Stop it already. You know you want to." Willow closed the clasp and moved it around to see the engraving. She flipped the tag part of the bracelet over and found another engraving. "See, sterling silver."

"And I thought you were going to say that he had 'Love, Angel' engraved on the back..."

"Good things come to all who wait. Now come on, you don't want to miss the party or that lovely guilt-free chocolate mud-cake."

"You know, they say it's low-fat, but it still has fat in it so it's not technically guilt-free."

"So what? It's chocolate."

*****

"Dawn, don't touch the matches," Joyce scolded her youngest daughter. It was time for the cake to be cut and the party to end. They were going to have dinner guests tonight and she wanted the house spotless well ahead of time so that Mai Lee would still have enough time to prepare a dinner for nine.

"Why?"

"Just don't, they're dangerous," Joyce replied. She set the cake on the dining table and stuck two candles in it; one for Kathryn and one for Buffy. There wouldn't be enough time nor candles to put 36; all on the same smallish sized cake. "Okay, hurry up, I need this house spotless in an hour." She lit the candles and it was a unanimous decision that it would be okay if they didn't sing.

The candles were blown out and the cake distributed and then everyone left, leaving a gigantic mess in their wake.

Joyce shook her head in despair. There'd be no way that the mess could be cleaned up quickly enough even if she and Mai Lee worked extra hard.

Seeing her mom like that and knowing the dinner guests were important for the gallery, she rested her hand on her mother shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, mom, I'll help," Buffy said and started picking up the dirty plates and forks scattered around the room.

By the time Buffy, Joyce, Mai Lee and Dawn had finished, it was gleaming with cleanliness.

"Sunday best, girls. Dinner guests at 6 o'clock sharp."

"Okay, mom," the two girls chorused.

"Now, I wonder where Kathryn is..." Joyce wondered aloud.


	8. Part 8 - Dinner Dates and Parental Woes

**Part 8**

"Won't you get in trouble for this? I thought you were grounded," Angel asked. They were walking around town aimlessly, not caring where they went just as long as it was away from their parents.

"It's my birthday. They can't punish me from wanting to get out of the house for a few hours." Kathryn wondered why she was being so nice to him. Normally it was just...being nice, getting some and then making them feel like shit, but with Angel...it felt wrong to her. Maybe she'd finally met someone worth crying over. But, as the saying goes, 'No guy is worth crying over, but when you finally meet one who is, he won't make you cry'.

Kathryn rested her head on his shoulder, only to be startled by the abrupt ringing of a mobile phone coming from the breast pocket of his jacket. "What the fuck, why the hell do you put your mobile in that pocket? It scared me half to death."

"Sorry, I forgot I even had it on." He flipped the cover open and held it to his ear, dreading the possibility it would be his parents scolding him for not being home for dinner in time. "Hello? Dad, why are you calling? ...Uh-huh, okay, sorry. Bye."

"Well, what did he say?"

"He wants me to come home cos we're going to someone's house for dinner. He told me this morning but I completely forgot. He says it's really important or something. I'm sorry, he sounded really mad."

"It's okay, I understand. We're having dinner guests tonight, so I have to be home anyway." Kathryn brought his head down for a kiss. Or two. Or ten.

"Do you need a lift?" he asked between kisses.

"No, I'll be fine. It'll only take about 5 minutes to walk home anyway." She shrugged, "Besides, mom said 'No convertibles!' remember?"

"Okay, see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course."

"Bye birthday girl." Angel grinned and started backing away slightly to remove the temptation.

"By the way, I loved your present!" She yelled when he was halfway down the street, blowing him a kiss. **But do I love you?**

*****

"Buffy, Dawn, could you please come downstairs and help me set the table?" Joyce shouted up the stairs.

Buffy rushed down the stairs. They'd known about these mysterious dinner guests for a few days already and they still didn't know who it was. "Sure mom. But why isn't Mai Lee doing it?"

"She's busy with the food. And, she doesn't know how to set out this type of cutlery. Too many different forks and spoons, she says."

"Ooh, delving into the mega special cutlery now are we? And the company-plates? Who the heck is coming over? The Queen?"

"No, just a potential buyer for the gallery. Mr. Ferguson was at the opening and he was very interested in some of the artwork," Joyce said, taking the cutlery out from the box Mai Lee had stored them in after washing them earlier in the day.

"Ferguson? Could it possibly be Angel's dad?"

"Possibly. But 'Ferguson' is a pretty common surname, Buffy."

The front door opened and slammed shut, the sound of thundering feet running up the stairs could be heard from every room in the house.

"Must be Kathryn," Joyce said, setting the rest of the napkins for Buffy to fold. "I'll be right back."

"Okay mom," Buffy watched her leave the room, "sure, leave me to do all the table setting..."

*****

"Son, where have you been? You were meant to be home half an hour ago," Angel's father straightened his tie and admired his own reflection in the hallway mirror.

"Out."

"Don't dawdle, dear. We have to leave in five minutes and we want you in a suit. A.S.A.P." Angel's mother hurried down the steps and took a light pink shawl out from the closet that Angel stood in front of.

"Does that mean I have to wear a tie?"

"We don't have time for you to put on a tie that'll make you look like you're going to a funeral, so just...skip the tie and hurry up."

"Sure, whatever." Angel trudged up the stairs and was startled by his sister, Kathy, who burst out of her room right when he was about to open the door to his.

"Hi, Angie."

"Stop calling me that."

"Angie."

"Katie."

"Alright, alright...just don't start calling me Katie…"

*****

"So, where exactly are we going?" Angel squirmed a little at the uncomfortableness of his suit. He hated to wear the thing and welcomed the day he saw it finally being thrown in the trash along with his parents' music collection, which ranged from Bach to the Bee Gees.

"We're dinner guests for Mr. and Mrs. Summers. Your father's company is planning to buy art from her gallery to 'jazz up' their offices," his mother told him happily.

Angel smirked when no one was looking except for the dog in the car stopping next to them at the traffic lights. **Maybe the rest of my day won't be so bad after all. I'll get to see Kathryn, Buffy, Mrs. Summers AND have more of Mai Lee's cooking.**

*****

*Ding, dong,* the doorbell rung loudly. Mai Lee hurried to answer it, checking her clothes for stains and creases before opening the door for the 'important guests'.

Mai Lee bowed her head slightly. "Welcome. Please, come in." The family entered the house, everyone but Angel was admiring at the sheer size of the house compared to their own. Mai Lee closed the door behind them and attached herself to the wall.

"Ah, you're here." Joyce shook Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson's hands. "No need to introduce me to your son. We've already met."

"Really?" Mrs. Ferguson raised her eyebrows at her son.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Joyce was surprised that Angel hadn't even told his own family about having stayed for dinner. "He's dating one of my daughters, and I asked him to stay for dinner last week while he was over here."

"Really?" Mrs. Ferguson looked at her son in questioningly, "Would that have been the night you said you'd had dinner at Gunn's?"

"Sorry mom, I just didn't want you to get worried over nothing. Mai Lee's cooking is some of the best I've ever had," Angel said. Mai Lee bowed her head and thanked him shyly for the compliment. She was often praised for her cooking, but she'd never really mastered the art of accepting a compliment.

"Where's the rest of your family? I'm dying to meet this mysterious girlfriend of Angel's," Angel's father nudged him teasingly. Angel just scowled and shook his head.

"Yeah, Angie," Kathy whispered so that only he and his family could hear.

Buffy had finished setting the table and Mr. Summers had arrived home just a few minutes after Kathryn. She heard the conversation going on out in the hallway and decided it would be more courteous to meet and greet than stay in the dining room doing nothing except sitting on her arse waiting for someone to give her something to do.

"Ah, Buffy, there you are. I'd like you to meet our guests, Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson," her mother spoke in a voice reserved only for people of importance, the kind of voice that so annoyingly snob-like. Sometimes Buffy got nausea if she heard it being used too long, but lately her ears had been adjusting since the gallery had gotten more business.

"Nice to meet you," she shook their hands and inquired the name of Angel's younger sister, who was looking intently at a sculpture behind one of the glass cabinets in the hall.

"Oh, pardon me. Her name is Kathy. I suppose you already know my son. It seems everyone knows him."

"Kathryn and Dawn are still upstairs doing God-knows-what," Buffy said, taking a liking to Angel's parents immediately. They seemed pleasant, a far cry from what she'd imagined them to be like. **I imagined them already? Okay, Buffy, just...chill. Stop thinking about it; next you'll be thinking what your wedding dress will look like...**

"Come on Dawn, stop that," Kathryn's voice said, loud enough to be heard from downstairs.

"Oh look, here they come," Buffy muttered under her breath.

Kathryn came down the stairs, smiling apologetically at their guests. "Sorry about that. Dawn was just being a nosey little girl and looking through my stuff," she looked angrily at Dawn, who was sheepishly following her sister down the stairs.

"Dawn, Kathryn, this is Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson, Angel and Kathy," Joyce said Angel's name more emphatically as if she wanted to gauge her daughter's reaction or something along the lines.

"Is your girlfriend the blonde one? Not a bad choice, son," Angel's father whispered in his son's ear. Angel smiled at his father's reference to his blondes-only favouritism.

"No, wrong pick," Angel whispered back.

Mr. Ferguson was taken aback by the idea that his son was finally bringing his stop to his long history of blondes-only. "Huh? You're pulling my leg, right?"

"Uh-uh, but she's a natural blonde, of course," Angel chuckled with his father and left his side to talk to his girlfriend only to find that she was no longer in the hallway.

The ladies had gone to the living room for a chat, leaving the two men all by themselves without even noticing it.

"Huh? Where'd everyone go?" Mr. Ferguson looked around the room and found Hank leaving his office, his attention focused on the envelope in his hands.

Laughter coming from the living room made him look up, not realising that their guests had arrived yet. He saw the two men in the hallway, looking a bit confused. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you'd arrived yet. I'm Hank Summers," he introduced himself, shaking their hands hurriedly. "The ladies must be in the living room."

He led them into the living room where the two wives were talking about Passions, Kathy and Buffy were playing with Mr Gordo while Dawn looked on and Kathryn was the odd one out, not caring to join in any other activity than reading a magazine. She was right in the middle of a quiz called 'Is it a lasting relationship?'.

"Hey, is it just me or is it a good time to be having dinner?" Hank asked.

*****

"That was fabulous. That's the kind of stuff you can't learn by watching Yan Can Cook," Mr. Ferguson said, putting his napkin on the table.

"Oh please, dad, you'd be more suited to 'Can't Cook, Won't Cook'," Kathy said with a grin. "You would probably burn water if mom ever let you into the kitchen."

"Oh, Kathy, no need to flatter me so," he said in a squeaky voice, which made the rest of the gathering laugh at his poor imitation of a 'lady'. Kathryn, however, wasn't very amused by the behaviour of her boyfriend's father. It could've been because of the wine but Kathryn wasn't entirely sure.

"May I please be excused?" Kathryn asked politely. She felt the need for a quick fix to keep herself from throwing up at the way everyone was acting as if they'd all been friends for years. It was nauseating at the least, especially when someone made a stupid comment or told a dumb joke. **I can't believe Angel and I are related to these people. I can tolerate Buffy sometimes but...just look at her...she's actually enjoying this?**

"Of course you may, Kathryn," Joyce replied.

Kathryn elegantly placed her napkin onto the table and resisted the urge to run out of the room.

They watched her go to make sure she had really gone. "There must be a bug up her ass," Joyce joked, slightly drunk from all the wine they'd had.

*****

"Son, I'm not so sure I like you going out with that brunette. What's her name? Kathleen?" Angel's father said the next morning.

"Her name is Kathryn," Angel replied, showing no anger at his father's words.

"But her twin, I liked her. See, you need a nice girl like her, not one of those prissy ones that judge people on what kind of car they drive."

"Are you still drunk?"

"No. I don't think so. Buffy's a nice girl. I'm not forcing you...but I'm just saying she'd be good for you."

**All in due time, dad, all in due time.** "We'll see. I don't even know if she likes me anyway."

"Who?" his mother walked into the dining room in her robe, holding a steaming mug of coffee. "Would you two boys be talking about either of the Summers twins?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Angel asked. Her mother always seemed to know what was going on in his life, even if he didn't know about it. His thoughts led him to the fact that his father had just said that he thought that he should be dating Buffy instead of Kathryn. **Huh? What the fuck is that all about?** Angel frowned at his plate of breakfast: bacon, eggs, toast. Might as well have been green eggs and ham; Angel wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

"Call it 'maternal intuition'. I'm your mother; I know stuff," she said with a chuckle. She sat in one of the remaining two chairs and watched her son stare at his food. "You know, staring at your food won't get it eaten. And if you don't eat it-"

"I will," Kathy said, grabbing a piece of the bacon from his plate.

"Hey! You little weasel!" Kathy screamed and scrambled to run away while her brother playfully chased after her.

"Sometimes I wonder how old you two should really be," their mother said. She shook her head, remembering the time when her two children had been young and carefree. Free from the torturous angst of adolescence-induced misery.

Angel had caught his 12 year-old sister in a tame headlock. "Say the magic word, Kathy."

"The magic word," Kathy giggled heartily, loving the way she could play on words however lame it ended up sounding. She knew they were only kidding around and that he was in too good a mood to keep her there until she apologised. She guessed that the good mood was due to Buffy, the twin she had met the night before who had that really adorable cat. She and Angel had gotten along VERY well.

"Kathy..."

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry. Besides, you have to leave for school now or you'll be late so I get to eat all your bacon anyway!" Kathy grinned and sat down at the table and started at her brother's ex-breakfast."

He watched her gobble down the breakfast he'd so painstakingly prepared for himself. He sighed and left the room, not really feeling as hungry as he had been when he'd first looked in the fridge that morning.

He picked his bag up from where he'd left it at the bottom of the stairs and picked up his keys from the four sets hanging from hooks in the hallway near the front door. Upon opening the door, he found Buffy there with her hand poised to knock.

She shrugged sheepishly and lowered her hand. "Never mind."

"Buffy. Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I just want to give this back to you." In her outstretched hand was the bracelet he had given her.


	9. Part 9 - In Oblivion

**Part 9**

She held out her hand further, coaxing him to take it from her. The bracelet shone in the sunlight, in all its glittering glory.

"Why?"

"I can't accept this. And I have more than one reason for deciding to give it back and it's not only because of my morals. I hardly even know you and you're giving me expensive gifts." She huffed and grabbed his hand and shoved the bracelet into his hand. "Just...keep it."

"But I don't know anyone else named Buffy. What am I going to do with it?"

"Don't ask me. I'm not exactly one of those people who have a continuous flow of thoughts and ideas. Like that guy in Godzilla who kept coming up with more and more ideas. That was gay and all and it's completely off topic so I'm just gonna storm off now," Buffy mumbled. She turned around and headed down the front steps. **Buffy! Stop acting like such a moronic idiot...**

"Wait!" Angel shouted, and closed the door behind him and rushed after her.

"What?"

"Why are you giving this back?"

"Because," she sighed, "because you're with my sister and I hardly know you and I'm very tempted to just grab you and kiss you right now." She spoke almost too fast for Angel to hear what she was saying. Almost. Even Buffy didn't know what she was saying and when she did, she could swear that she was going to kick herself in the arse if Angel hadn't been staring at her with wide eyes and a wide grin.

"Really?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"No," she replied in a daze, entranced by the darkness of his brown eyes. Not really chocolate, but like the rich dark chocolate of after dinner mints. "I mean, yes. Stop that." She spun on her heels and stomped down the rest of the stairs and struggled to open the gate.

"Do you want a ride? If you walk, you'll be late."

Buffy sighed again. Should she or shouldn't she? Tardy or not tardy? "Fine," she answered reluctantly.

He opened the gate and held it open for her to get through and closed it behind them. The bracelet was practically burning a hole in his hand.

He was poised to open the door for her and at the last minute, paused.

"What? Forgot the keys?"

Angel shook his head. All of a sudden, he turned to face her and pulled her close and caught her lips in a searing kiss. Sealed in fiery passion, their mouths melded in a dance of tongues, a bittersweet moment held—of all places—against Angel's car on the side of a deserted street.

"That was…" Angel started to say when they'd mutually broken off the kiss to take a breath. They were panting from the experience, still disbelieving that it'd actually happened.

"Amazing," Buffy finished for him.

"We should really get going."

He opened the door for her to get in and got in on the driver's side. They were now definitely going to be late, but it didn't really matter to either of them. They'd both just experienced the best kiss they'd had in their entire lives and no one, not anyone, was going to wreck their moods. Not even Mrs. Peterson and especially not Kathryn.

*****

"WHAT?!" Willow and Xander screeched in unison.

"This is bad."

"No Xander, this is good. G-O-O-D, good."

"You guys, it was just a kiss. No need to go catatonic. Even if it was probably one of the best kisses I've EVER had." Buffy looked out the window and saw that the weather exactly fitted her mood. The sky was a bright shade of blue without a single cloud visible; perfect autumn weather. **How come I always associate my mood with the weather? Crazy Buffy, bad bad bad Buffy.**

"Just a kiss? How do you know he wasn't trying to molest you or something?"

"Xander!" Willow and Buffy shouted at the poor boy at the same time.

He shrunk into his seat, "Okay, now I know a few things I definitely shouldn't say..."

"Mrs. Peterson is never late, where is she? It's like her policy; never be late."

"I dunno, but I guess it's my lucky day. I was late and I didn't even get in trouble for it."

"Ha, lucky day my butt. I bet we're having a sub. And with our luck, it'll be Giles and he'll lecture us for ages about something historical and he'll wipe his glasses with his handkerchief three or four times and walk in with a pile of books and a cup of fresh made tea..."

"Sorry I'm late," Giles said, fumbling with a pile of books and a cup of tea, "Principal Snyder didn't tell my I had to substitute until just two minutes or so. My apologies."

Xander gave them his 'I told you so' look and shrunk even further into his seat.

*****

"So, B, I hear you kissed someone this morning," Faith said with a grin. They'd been lectured by Giles for the rest of history lesson (just as Xander had said he would). Buffy and Willow had counted the number of times he'd cleaned his glasses; three and half times since he'd been in the middle of cleaning them a fourth time when the bell had rung.

Faith and Spike had been sitting on the other side of the room since Xander and Willow had arrived later than usual because of a run-in with Cordelia and had only been able to save one extra seat (for Buffy). Nonetheless, the three of them had been speaking so loudly that everyone in the whole room could hear the conversation. 

"Really?"

"Was it Angel?"

Buffy had to smile at the way Faith was acting. She was never like this, not ever. She was usually more laid back, even when she was excited. Well, unless she was REALLY excited...

"As a matter-of-fact, yes. But don't tell everyone okay? I want you to keep it shut."

"Okay, no gabbing... Was it good?"

"Faith! How could you ask me a question like that? Of course it was," Buffy laughed and Faith gaped at her. **Oh my God, it's been so long since she's acted like this...so happy. The old Buffy wouldn't have joked around about a kiss. Well not with me at least.**

"How good?"

"Amazing."

*****

The whole group had gathered at the Bronze for "a little bit o' fun", as Spike had put it. Buffy was dressed for comfort and appeal, expecting Angel to be there tonight. She was lucky that her sister was still grounded, but the little voice in the back of her mind told her that she was just that—LUCKY. Kathryn would explode when she found out. Yeah, not 'if', but 'when'.

"Oi, pet. You want a drink?" Spike asked the blonde.

"Sure, I'm practically dying of thirst but I can't be bothered to move..." she mumbled, her eyes trained on the door. **I know this is wrong, but it feels right. And that's all that matters...**

"Hey Buffy, are ya gonna be partying with us tonight or are you going to be staring at the door all night?" Xander asked through the din.

"What? Oh, of course."

"Which one?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Go do your little lovesick-like-people-who-liked-Sleepless-In-Seattle thing. I'll just sit here and..." Xander saw Spike coming towards them with the sodas, "and drink my soda."

"Here we are. And I don't even have a clue how I managed to hold five cups of soda all at the same time. It's rather strange..."

Just then, Angel stepped into the Bronze flanked by his friends, Charles Gunn (though everyone just called him 'Gunn'), Allan Francis Doyle (many people didn't even know his full name, just called him Doyle and left it at that) and a few of his other friends from the team followed closely behind.

"Hey man, isn't that your girlfriend's sister?" Gunn asked Angel quietly, glancing at the beautiful blonde in question. They'd made their way inside the club and as usual, the group separated, all looking for a babe to talk up. Except Doyle who had disappeared in the direction of the bar. He'd recently split with his long-time girlfriend, Harry. Apparently Doyle always carried his 'card': his fake ID, which he'd had done while he was on holiday in Mexico.

"Yeah," Angel replied. He could hardly take his eyes off her long enough to look at his watch. 8:00, on the dot. He was right on time.

"Do you think you could fix me up with her? Hot girl like her, all alone."

"No," Angel said without hesitation. "I mean, I hardly know her."

"Sure you do. I got some kind of crapped up rumour that you pashed the blonde one this morning."

"It isn't true," Angel replied with a gulp

Gunn raised one of his eyebrows. "Right...I believe you..."

"Fine, fine. So what if we did? I just don't want Kathryn to find out, okay? So keep your mouth CLOSED." Angel saw Buffy approaching them.

"Amen," Gunn joked before leaving his friend in search of Doyle. It wasn't very easy dragging the guy into a car, out of it and then into an elevator up to the tenth floor to the apartment he lived in with his parents. One of these days Gunn would drag the guy to an AA meeting instead of home where most of Doyle's family's supply of liquor lived.

"Hi," Buffy said when she had gotten to where Angel was.

"Hey gorgeous," Angel said with a sexy half-smile.

"Dance?" Buffy asked when a slow song came on.

Angel took her hand and led her to the dance floor. He didn't care who saw anymore, it was all worth it. Besides, he wouldn't let Kathryn to get the better of him. Would he?

_//Kiss me  
Out on the bearded barley  
Nightly  
Beside the green, green grass  
Swing, swing  
Swing the spinning step  
You wear those shoes and I will  
Wear that dress//  
_

They swayed to the music, enjoying the simple company of each other. She closed her eyes and leant her head on his chest. She shut out the outside world, not worrying about the consequences. As far she was concerned, there were no consequences.

_//Oh, kiss me  
Beneath the milky twilight  
Lead me out on the moonlit floor  
Lift your open hand  
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance  
Silver moon's sparkling  
So kiss me//  
_

Angel rested his head on hers, inhaling the smell of her shampoo. It was apple flavoured; one of those kids shampoos that did pretty much the same as the expensive ones. He used that kind of shampoo too; he liked the smell too much to stop using it. Gunn teased him about it all the time, but he didn't care.

_//Kiss me  
Down by the broken tree house  
Swing me  
Upon its hanging tyre  
Bring, bring  
Bring your flowered hat  
We'll take the trail marked  
On your father's map//  
_

The crowd was thick and there were couples swaying all around them. Buffy and Angel swayed to the rhythm of the soft music and didn't notice a single person except each other. In oblivion.

_//Oh, kiss me  
Beneath the milky twilight  
Lead me out on the moonlit floor  
Lift your open hand  
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance  
Silver moon's sparkling  
So kiss me//  
_

"This is perfect," Buffy said, lifting her head to look into his eyes; just for a moment. She laid her head back onto Angel's chest, her lips parting in a contented smile.

**It sure is, love. It's absolutely perfect.**

_//Kiss me  
Beneath the milky twilight  
Lead me out on the moonlit floor  
Lift your open hand  
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance  
Silver moon's sparkling  
So kiss me  
So kiss me  
So kiss me  
So kiss me//  
_

Angel pressed a kiss to her forehead. He took the bracelet from his pocket and said, "Here," and he took her wrist and clasped on the bracelet with ease. He'd accidentally forgotten to give it back after that incredible kiss they'd shared that morning.

"Thank you," she said simply before turning and walking out the door.

_(AN: The song is "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer.)_


	10. Part 10 - Election Time

**Part 10**

"Nominations for Student Body President start today. See Mrs. Goldsmith in the English faculty for a form," one of the ladies from the school's admin announced through the PA system.

Buffy immediately perked up and tapped her pen on the table in thought. **Student Body President huh? Maybe...it wouldn't hurt to try.** Buffy smiled deviously and returned to her work. **Yes, that could definitely work out for me.**

*****

Kathryn heard the announcement and leaned back in her chair. She'd planned to try for Student Body President but she was still unsure, well until now. **Nothing better than gaining power. Well, not really. I can think of a few things straight off the top of my head...**

*****

"Hi Mrs. Goldsmith. I was just wondering if I could have a form for Student Body President nominations," Buffy spoke kindly to the amiable old woman. It was a well-known fact that Mrs. Goldsmith was the nicest teacher in the whole school (excluding Giles, that was, since he wasn't technically a teacher).

"Oh hi Buffy. It's so nice to see you running for the job," Mrs. Goldsmith smiled and handed Buffy a form. "To tell you the truth, I just don't want to see your sister doing the job."

"Neither do I. And I'm sure you're not the only one who thinks my wretch of a sister can't handle it," Buffy replied.

"Yeah, especially Mrs. La Croix... Well good luck, hun." Mrs. Goldsmith's congenial attitude changed when she saw who had also turned up at the staffroom, probably in search of her.

"Hi Mrs. Goldsmith," she smiled sarcastically. It was obvious that she had heard at least some of their conversation.

"Kathryn Summers. What an interesting surprise."

Buffy looked carefully at Kathryn's suspicious demeanour and couldn't help but think something was up. "Remember Kath, no cheating," Buffy said, patting her twin lightly on the arm before walking off.

"So...can I have a form or not?"

*****

"Buffy, you're kidding right?" Willow asked with wide eyes.

"Nup."

"Aww, come on Will. Aren't you gonna join me on the 'Go Buffy' team?" Xander said, and wriggled a little to suggest some sort of weird dancing...or maybe a hamster in his pants.

"Sure, but do you have any idea what kind of competition you have?" Willow asked seriously.

"Not really. I only know Kathryn is in, however much Mrs. G hates her."

"Hey people," Faith greeted them and chucked her books onto the table with a loud smack, "what's the topic of now?"

"Student Body President nominations."

"Why the hell are you talkin' 'bout that?"

"Buffy's running for it, as is Bitch Number One."

"Kathryn's going for president? You're shitting me," Faith looked at the stone-faced trio incredulously.

"We shit you not," Xander said in a dull voice. He could see Cordelia coming in their direction-the perfect day spoiler. "Oh look, it's Bitch Number Two."

"Shut up Xander, at least I'm not a loser like you," Cordelia bit back, which was, admittedly, a pretty bad comeback.

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots," Xander looked at his feet, "sneakers, whatever."

Cordelia rolled her eyes and grabbed Buffy by the arm and dragged her away from her friends.

"Look, I want to make this quick. I don't want to be seen with you longer than I have to."

"Really? I'm touched."

"I saw you and Angel at the Bronze. And as much as I hate to not say anything, I REALLY don't want to be the one to tell Kathryn."

"And...? Was that all?"

"Buffy, please, just take this seriously. She really likes Angel, like, REALLY likes him. I don't want to see her hurt and I'm just asking...and for what it's worth-"

"Whatever it is, it's not worth anything. You turned her into the way she was. Before, she'd been okay; she'd actually been friends with me," Buffy glared at the snobby cheerleader Kathryn called her best friend. What kind of a best friend is afraid of telling them their boyfriend is cheating on them? Not a very good one. "I don't suppose you'd understand how it feels to have your own twin sister hate you, so don't give me any of that bullshit." Buffy walked away from the gaping Cordelia and went back to where her friends were, still staring in disbelief. Buffy and Cordelia had never had such a long conversation before; it was a cause for some sort of weirdness factor.

"B, what'd the bitch say?"

"Don't worry about it. It's not important," she replied glumly. **Is this relationship all a mistake? Is Cordelia right?**

*****

"Okay, that's the last one," Willow said and shook her arm. "Boy, can these staple guns give your arm muscles a run for their money."

"Remind me never to do this again?" Buffy whined childishly.

"Never do what again?" Faith asked. She'd arrived at the noticeboard outside the library to find Willow and Buffy putting up campaign posters.

"Put up so many posters all in the space of twenty minutes using one of these," she held up the heavy black staple gun she'd borrowed from Miss Curtis from the art faculty. She could hardly hold it anymore, her tiny muscles no longer able to handle the strain. "AND do this whole 'campaign speech' thing. I'm so nervous. What if I fall flat on my face?"

"Ever the optimist."

"You won't, trust me," Willow said, leaning against the wall in exhaustion. They'd spent the whole morning running around Sunnydale High trying to find the best places to put up her posters. Literally, running.

"And why should I trust you?"

"Cos, there's nothing to trip on except for your own feet. So just don't be clumsy and trip over your own feet and you'll be A-OK," Willow reassured her. "Anyone seen Spike lately?"

"Oh, I knew I forgot something. His grandfather died so he and his family are flying back to the mother country for the funeral," Faith told them, "he'll be back in a few days."

*****

"Who'd you vote for?"

"Kathryn, cos she's hot. What about you?"

"I voted for Buffy. Just as hot as Kathryn AND not a friggin' bitch."

Kathryn eavesdropped on the conversation between the two guys from around her spot around the corner. She'd almost started fuming...but it really didn't do anything except make her look splotchy.

*****

"The ballots are in and we're here to announce the winner of the election. So sit down and keep your mouths closed. And no horsing around. Please welcome our guest speaker, Deputy Mayor Allan Finch." Snyder clapped while he went back to his seat on the stage.

It was the day of the announcement of the new Student Body President. Everyone from the freshmen to the seniors were all crammed into the auditorium to hear who had won. The competition was fierce. Up against Kathryn were Holly Charleston, Rob Stevens and-

"Buffy are you sure you want to be Student Body President?" Willow asked nervously. "I mean, I voted for you and all, but I kinda get the feeling that you're doing this to prove some kind of point."

"Of course I do, Willow," Buffy whispered quietly to her friend, "but can't some things have more than one motive?"

Willow just frowned, sinking deeper into thought. The deputy mayor always spoke at the announcement of the new president and each year it was almost the same as the last and it sure wasn't really much of a shebang either.

"Now, I'll hand it over to Mrs. Goldsmith to announce the winner," Snyder said with as much politeness as he could muster.

Buffy crossed her fingers and prayed for the best. Willow held Buffy's hand and kept her eyes on the old English teacher, who had just opened the envelope.

Angel and his friends were all at the back of the hall, watching Mrs. Goldsmith open the small yellow envelope in her frail hands. Angel crossed his fingers, still undecided over who should win. He'd gone to the election and filled in the ballot slip and put it into the box but he still had no idea who the hell he'd voted for.

"And the Student Body President '98-'99 is…" she looked closely at the small print on the sheet of paper. Of all things to forget, she'd forgotten to put on her glasses. "Sorry, I seem to have forgotten to put on my glasses."

There was a resounding groan through the whole auditorium from exasperation that they would have to wait a mere few seconds for the elderly woman to put on her glasses. They'd seen the two Summers twins campaigning for the presidency for the whole of the past week. The anticipation over which of them would win had built up to such a degree that a few troublemakers had attempted to steal the envelope that morning but unfortunately they'd been caught by Snyder and given afternoon detention for a whole month.

"The Student Body President '98-'99 is," she reopened the envelope. "Wow, it was a VERY close election. The winner is Kathryn Summers, by just *two* votes. And since she won by so little we have appointed Buffy Summers as the first ever Student Body Vice President."

"Oh my God, by two votes?" Buffy was shocked. She gaped at Willow as if she'd just realised she actually had a chance at winning. "They've got to be fucking with me," she added under her breath.

"Just go!" Willow said, pushing her friend onto her feet and joining the crowd in applause.

*****

"Congratulations girls," Joyce beamed at her daughters. They were having a 'celebration dinner' that Kathryn found boring on all counts. Except for the cake, cos for the first time ever, her name was written above Buffy's since every other time the bakery people always put Buffy's name first whenever they got birthday cakes. It pissed Kathryn off all the time to think that it might not have even been the baker's fault, just her mother's, for having written their names in that order.

"Thanks mom...mmm, it smells delicious," Buffy grinned at the sight of the beautiful chocolate mud cake she and her mother had picked up on the way back from the gallery.

"Low-fat?" Kathryn asked as a precaution.

"Nup, it's the real-deal this time. I like the low-fat one and all but I have GOT to tell you, it tastes better this way," Buffy took a bite of the piece she'd been given and relished the taste of the rich chocolate icing.

"Here, here," Dawn dittoed after taking a bite out of her's.

Kathryn stared longingly at the piece of cake on the plate in front of her and timidly brought her fork to her mouth. Her eyes visibly widened at the taste compared to the low-fat version they'd had for their birthday. "Mmm, it does taste better."

Joyce smiled at her three daughters and noticed they all agreed on one thing for the first time in...months. Unfortunately their father had had to leave for a business trip to New York a few days earlier and wouldn't be back for another two days. It was a pity that he'd missed the occasion, but sometimes there really wasn't much you could do about things like that. Especially not if you're the boss.

"Remember girls, the most delicious foods are the least healthy ones. Well, unless it's cooked by Mai Lee of course."

"Umm...where's Mr. Gordo?"

Kathryn gulped, "Oops."


	11. Part 11 - Cat and Mouse

**Part 11**

"What do you mean 'oops'?" Buffy asked with her fists clenched and leaning over the table to interrogate her. Mr. Gordo was to her like Mr. Bigglesworth was to Dr Evil. Her partner in crime. (Although Buffy never actually did anything that could be considered a 'crime'.)

Kathryn shook her head, refusing to be accused of anything. It was the damn cat's fault anyway! "Nothing. I just might've...left the back door open an-"

"And he went outside?!" Buffy shouted before running out of the room and out the back door, calling out Mr. Gordo's name.

She frantically began systematically checking all the trees for the beautiful white cat, all to no avail. She checked amongst the rose bushes, in the agapanthus and under the garden furniture. She checked in the gardener's shed, throughout the entire garden and even in the pool (in case he'd fallen in and drowned or something **No, please not that.**). The thought that her precious and beloved cat was all by himself and not safe and sound distressed her beyond belief.

She went back inside and picked up the cordless phone. "Hello? Willow? Have you seen Mr. Gordo? He's missing and..."

"Oh my God, Buffy... Do you think I could help? You know, and try to find him?" Willow asked.

"Thanks, but no; it's okay. I don't even have any idea where to start looking and I don't think the two of us will have any better luck. I'll...see you tomorrow," Buffy hung up hurriedly before dialling the next number. And the next. And the next. No one had seen him nor had any idea where he might've gone.

Buffy sighed and sat down on one of the deck chairs lining the edge of the pool. The only person she hadn't yet called was Angel. She doubted he'd seen Mr. Gordo, but it was always worth a shot. She punched in the number she'd learnt off by heart from sneaking a peak from Kathryn's address book. "Hello? Is Angel there?"

"Who's this?" Kathy said from the other end of the line.

"It's Buffy. Could you please give the phone to Angel? It's an emergency."

"Well, maybe I can help."

"My cat, he's missing."

"No he isn't. He's here with me."

"What? He's there? With you? How? Why? When? Huh?"

"Hey, one question at a time. I was walking home from swimming training this afternoon and he was following me all the way. I didn't think it'd be very much trouble to keep him for a little while until Angel got home to gimme a ride to your place to give him back," Kathy said sweetly. For a twelve year old, Kathy was pretty smart, but when it came to animals...

"Oh thank God! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I could just kiss you right now except, well, we're on the phone and all. Do you think you could bring him back now though?" Buffy was ecstatic. She didn't care that Kathryn had left the door open or that Mr. Gordo had followed Kathy all the way to her house. Not to mention the coincidence that he'd found her at all. **Maybe he recognised her scent.**

"Of course. We were just about to leave but we had to have dinner first. We'll be right there."

Buffy pressed the button to hang up and trudged back inside. She put down the receiver on its charger and sat back in her chair at the dining table.

"Well? Has anyone seen him?" Joyce asked as she set down the large bowl of salad she'd made beside the dish of spaghetti bolognaise (and since it was Mai Lee's day off, Joyce had had to cook it—not exactly restaurant quality, but still "scrum-diddly-umptious"—as Dawn once put it).

"He followed Angel's sister home. They're bringing him back now," Buffy replied happily. "Mmm, this smells great."

Kathryn stared at her sister in fury. **How dare she treat me like that? The little bitch.**

"And Kathryn? I know it probably wasn't your fault, but please keep the back door *closed* when Mr. Gordo's around. He isn't a dog."

Five minutes later, the doorbell rang. Buffy leapt right out of her seat to answer it, anxious to see her cat all safe and sound again. And sure enough, there Kathy and her brother stood, with Mr. Gordo held unharmed in Kathy's arms.

Buffy flung open the door and eagerly invited them inside. Kathy handed Mr. Gordo back to Buffy with regret. But when she saw how happy it made Buffy to see the feline again, she realised that she shouldn't be regretting it. After all, it wasn't as if the cat was hers. It was ironic that she loved animals but she'd never had any pets except for a few goldfish that she'd had to give away when they'd moved a couple of years ago.

"I can't thank you enough!" Buffy hugged Kathy (cat and all) as if she'd just been told she'd won the lottery. "You have no idea how much this means to me," Buffy continued to gush.

"No problem. It wasn't as if I'd found him anyway. He found me."

Angel—who had been silent the whole time—watched Buffy intently, noticing how much the cat made her happy. **Will I ever make her that happy?**

"Kathy, we have to get going soon," Angel said ruefully. He really didn't want to leave so soon. It was so tempting to just grab her and kiss right there. He didn't even know why he was so attracted to her, he just...was. She was everything he'd ever looked for in a person; he supposed. He felt drawn to her in a way he couldn't describe. Unlike with Kathryn, who he'd started dating because he thought she was hot. **I guess I found someone better than her—someone who's exactly what I wanted to find in Kathryn, but didn't. That could be the reason.**

"So soon? Would you like some cake? We have lots of celebration cake left if you want any," Buffy offered warmly. She shifted her hold on Mr. Gordo, which revealed to Angel that she was indeed still wearing the bracelet instead of still guilt tripping about it.

Kathy was about to open her big mouth to say yes when her brother clamped a hand over mouth and shook his head. "No, we really should get going. Kathy has homework and so do I."

"Sure, I understand," Buffy said sadly.

"I mean, we'd love to stay but we can't. And if I remembered correctly, Kathy has an essay due tomorrow which she hasn't even started on," Angel said, and grinned as Kathy's eyes widened.

"Shit. Oh crap! We have to go, bye Buffy," Kathy said as she ran out the door and jumped into the car.

"Never mind her. It's actually due on Wednesday, I just wanted to get her out of the way," Angel quietly. The rest of the Summerses were still enjoying their dinner, not really interested in what would happen when Kathy gave back Buffy's cat (cos it's just such a big whoop...not). It was just Buffy and Angel, alone, again.

"I see... Now that you have me alone, what do you plan to do?" Buffy asked, smiling tenderly at the sentiment.

"Oh, I dunno." Angel replied and rested his hands on her shoulders. "I could give you a kiss." He captured her lips in a chaste kiss, taking his time to explore the inside of her mouth with his tongue until they mutually broke apart.

Buffy licked her lips, "Mm, not bad. What else?"

"How about a date?" Angel asked as he tucked a piece of her baby-soft blonde hair behind her ear.

"When?" Buffy inquired, and relished the closeness between their bodies, trying to ignore the possibility of being caught.

"Thursday, after school?"

"Sure. But why not tomorrow or Wednesday? Even though I work at the gallery on Wednesdays. And I can't tell you how much better it's been going since mom stopped getting Kathryn to work there since she's so bad at it."

"Really? Well it's because I have football practice tomorrow. And I already knew that you'd be busy on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays."

"Thursday it is, then."

*****

Buffy woke with a smile on her face. The moment she'd woken up to the near-blinding light coming from outside her bedroom window, she'd decided that it would be the perfect day for a jelly donut and fresh (and delicious) Starbucks mocha. She knew she had a chemistry test to do, but she wouldn't let something like that spoil her mood. After all, she'd studied as hard as she possibly could already (with Willow as her tutor) and that there wasn't much more she could do about it.

She threw back the covers of her bed and hopped out of bed with a spring in her step. Not much later after she'd used the bathroom, she was dressed in white capri pants, a pale yellow tank top and her favourite baby blue embroidered cardigan. Mr. Gordo—who had been sleeping at the end of her bed—had not yet woken up even though he'd gotten part of the blanket tossed over him (just a bit).

Buffy looked down at the two neat rows of shoes lined up in her closet and picked out the pair of blue, strappy sandals she'd bought especially to match the cardigan. She quickly put them on and fastened the small buckles on both ankles and went over to her dressing table to fix her hair and put on a little bit of make up.

Buffy slung a bag over her shoulder and checked her reflection out in the full-length mirror attached to the back of her door. "Perfect." She bounded down the stairs and out the door, shouting a good morning to her bewildered mother on the way out.

It was still rather early and she was in such a good mood that she'd decided to walk the whole way instead of taking the car. **Hey, on second thought it's kinda...far. And 'far' means 'late'.**

She popped her head back through the door and found her mother still standing there with a set of car keys in her hands as well as a steaming mug of coffee. "Jellies?" Joyce asked in amusement.

"How'd you guess?" Buffy joked. She knew that her mother knew that whenever she didn't have breakfast at home, she'd probably be buying jelly donuts from the bakery on Main instead.

Joyce shrugged in mock innocence, "Wouldn't have a clue."

Buffy smiled gratefully and kissed her mother on the cheek before taking the keys. She was thankful that she wouldn't have to beg for permission to take out her and Kathryn's car; unlike last time. After her sister had "accidentally" backed it into some old guy's car, their mother had been more careful in deciding whether or not they would be allowed to take the pretty (pretty expensive) little car out.

It was pale metallic blue. With leather seats. A CD player. Convertible. It even had custom installed headlight wipers (compliments of their father; the car junkie). It was probably Cordelia's dream car. It was always the best for Hank Summers' daughters. His amassed wealth had bought much for him and his family, but Buffy had never let it get to her and turn her into a snob.

Buffy took out the pair of sunglasses she'd left in the glove box and started the ignition. She was so excited that she'd almost forgotten to wait for the gates to open. Almost.

She drove carefully into town. It'd been a while since she'd last driven, but it wasn't as if she was rusty at it. It was just that sometimes there were some pretty crazed drivers running rampage—you could never be too careful. At least, that's what her mother always said.

She found a place to park conveniently right in front of the bakery. Maybe it was her lucky day. She entered the bakery and bought three jelly donuts—two for her, one for Giles. She picked up the paper bag from the counter after putting her wallet back into her bag and turned to find Angel standing there looking as if he were just about to hello.

"What a nice surprise," Buffy greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.

Angel grinned. How come things like this kept happening to them? It was like Fate was messing with their lives and kept doing things to bring the two of them together. Angel turned his attention to the girl behind the counter, "I'll have a cinnamon pastry, thanks."

Angel paid for it and picked up his paper bag and followed Buffy out of the shop. "Coffee?" she asked.

"As if I'd refuse a steaming hot Starbucks café mocha with extra cream and extra foam," Angel said and opened the door for her. Buffy complied and entered the café, glancing briefly at the menu before ordering.

"Angel? What do you want?"

"I already told you didn't I?"

"Oh. Right, ok," Buffy said quietly to herself and turned back to the person behind the counter. "One café mocha with extra cream and extra foam and one white chocolate mocha with no foam."

Meanwhile, Angel had found them a place to sit in the already bustling coffee house. He watched her wait for their coffees and paid special attention to everything she did. **I think I do believe in Fate...**

"Here we go," Buffy said as she set down the two mugs down on the table. "And please, don't worry. It's my treat."

"Are you sure? Cos I could pay you back," Angel fumbled for the money in his pocket.

"No, no, no. It's FINE," Buffy put her hand on his to reassure him. "So, how do you take your coffee?"

"What?"

"Well, when you get to know someone, you should find out how they take their coffee. I usually take one raw and one white." She took one packet of the raw sugar and one of the white sugar from the few that she'd picked up on her way over and opened them both at the same time and emptied their contents into her mug.

"Really? I guess I'll have to remember that then. I take two raw."

"Really? Am I strange or something? Cos everyone else usually take two of the same. And it kinda makes it harder to remember. Oh well, couldn't be too hard to remember," Buffy beamed and took a sip of her white chocolate mocha. "Yum."

*****

20 minutes later, they found themselves standing outside once more. It had become too crowded inside and the time to get going was dangerously near.

Buffy leant on her car and crossed her arms, waiting for Angel to reply to her question.

"What do you mean by 'Do you like shrubs?' and I don't think the owner of that car would appreciate you leaning on their car like that."

"I meant 'Do you like shrubs?'; how much simpler can a question be?" Buffy said, purposely not answering Angel's second question. She put her bag and the paper bag with the jelly donut for Giles in it in the passenger seat.

"I suppose I do, but you didn't answer my other question."

"About the car?" Buffy asked innocently, intending to tease him.

"Yeah." **That can't be her car right? It's a fucking Mercedes SL-500!! Can't possibly be hers.**

"Well, I thought you'd have figured it out by now. And I can tell you're probably thinking that it can't be mine. And you'd be right." Buffy grinned—she'd always wanted to try this on someone...

"But then why-" Angel lowered his voice, "You're not stealing it are you?"

Of all conclusions she'd thought he'd come to, THAT was not what she'd expected. "What? No. Dad bought it for himself to gawk at and used the excuse that it was for me and Kathryn to convince mom that we should get a third car. It's not technically mine and that's all I meant to...mean. And-"

Angel stopped her babbling with a kiss. "I like you. And I like cars. That meshes well. You know, in a not 'women-and-cars' way." Angel made a face and mentally kicked himself for the utterly thoughtless choice of words. "Do you think you could come to practice this afternoon? We could go...do something afterwards. If you want," Angel asked timidly. **Timidly? How did I get 'timid' and how the hell did I not notice?**

"Sure. I'd like that."

_(A.N. I know that the new SL wasn't released until 2001, but who really cares? It's a nice car.)_


	12. Part 12 - Going it Slow

**Part 12**

Cordelia drove into the school car park exuding the confidence and positivity that the Chase family was known for. Cordelia believed that it was her "duty" to carry on as her mother had way back when she, too, had attended SHS. No "Mrs. Porter's Dormitory for Girls" for those two. No, it was their "duty" to separate the cool ones from the losers, rich from the poor, and to claim every worthy guy for herself.

Cordelia almost started digging her own grave, imagining how the rest of the school would react to Queen C not having the best of the best, but to Cordelia's surprise Mr. and Mrs. Summers had forbidden Kathryn and Buffy from taking the car to school. For what reason? Kathryn hadn't disclosed the info to her, but she guessed it was because of a little "accident" which ended up costing $5000 to repair. **Must've been pretty bad to have cost so much. Hurricane Kathryn strikes again.**

"What is it now?" Cordelia yelled to a rather angered Kathryn who was storming towards her—full steam ahead. Cordelia removed her sunglasses and carefully put them back in its case and slipped it into her bag.

"What is it now? I'll tell you what it is. My new duties as Student Body President includes showing this loser around the school for the *entire* day," Kathryn said breathlessly as a short, slightly geeky boy scampered to keep up with the rampaging brunette.

"Excuse me. Ex-" the boy said with a stutter.

"Will you just leave me alone for just *one* minute? I'm having a conversation here," Kathryn snapped at the new student. The boy obediently closed his mouth. "Thank you."

"What do you want me to do about it, Miss Student-Body-President?" Cordelia asked while she looked frantically through her glove box for the watch she'd left in there the night before. She could swear she'd left it in there...

"I don't know. Find me a person who'd be willing to do it? Please, Cordy? I'm begging here. I *don't* beg."

"You're right, I'm finding it all a bit strange to hear it actually." Cordy dug further into the glove box and upturned her expensive white gold Cartier watch.

"Please Cordy?" Kathryn pleaded with her—a strange and unfamiliar sight indeed.

"Fine, fine. But why didn't you just find any old somebody to do it?"

"Cos I don't have time. I need to see Mrs. La Croix. Again." Kathryn rolled her eyes and shuddered for dramatic effect. One of her mottos was 'You can never show enough hatred towards someone you hate and hates you.' Of course, the opposite was 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer', but it only applied if they didn't hate you back. In this case, she had to go with the first one. The second one was beginning to get a bit old anyway. Kathryn nodded her head as a confirmation and hurried up the path towards the school.

Cordelia got out her car gracefully; giving the football jocks huddled on the lawn nearby an eyeful of her perfectly tanned legs. Her glory was ruined both by the new guy (who's name she still didn't know) asking her where he could find the bathroom and by Buffy suddenly parking her car in the space next to her hers. Cordelia's confident smile turned into a frown immediately at the sight. This was the day she had been dreading for months.

"Hey Cordy. Lovely day isn't it?" Buffy smiled sweetly at Cordelia. The brunette fumed silently, wishing she had dug that grave; nice and ready for her to crawl up and die inside.

Buffy knew she was being a bitch, but it was no different from how they treated her. It was finally her turn to bat and she wished to God that this one would hit right where she wanted, right where it hurt the most.

Cordelia eyed the blonde warily while the boy (who was actually called Martin) watched in fascination. "No, I guess I didn't. But at least I'll be safe in the fact that your mom won't be in such a good mood for at least, oh...a few months?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Buffy replied. She pressed the button to automatically put the hood back up and stepped out of the car as it started to take effect. As soon as the hood stopped moving, Buffy pressed the button to turn on the security system.

The sound of another car turning into the lot was heard, with Angel in the driver's seat of said car. Angel did the same as Buffy and put the hood back on and turned the security on. Cordelia just ignored them and pretended that they weren't there and that they didn't have better cars than her. **What's their thing with cars? I mean...look at them...**

"See you later Buffy," Angel flashed Buffy a smile before checking his watch and jogging toward the group of jocks still huddled on the lawn.

"You know Angie Boy, you're gonna get into some serious trouble one of these days," Gunn told him as he patted his friend on the back, "but I think you found someone who's worth it. I mean, look at her."

"You really think so?"

"Man. What did I just say?"

"Good to know you think so too," Angel said distantly, watching Buffy run up the stairs to give Willow back her notes for history.

"Oh no, I think he's as good as whipped..." Doyle whispered to Gunn in his thick Irish accent. The dreamy look in Angel's eyes stayed until Buffy entered the building with her friends.

Gunn and Doyle laughed at the love-struck footballer when the bell rung abruptly and startled him. "What?"

"Don't worry," Doyle answered, attempting to contain his laughter—not quite succeeding.

"Hey, Irish. We gotta head to class already not watch you laugh until you pee your pants," Gunn said with a slight smile.

"Okay, I'm just fine..."

"What were you two laughing about anyway?"

"Nothing," they replied in unison.

*****

"Cordelia!" Harmony called out to the brunette. She reluctantly turned to face the ever-cheerful Harmony to find out what the hell the problem was this time. It'd taken ages to find "Martin" someone to show him around and now Harmony was gonna bug her too? This was *so* not her day...

"What now Harmony?" Cordelia grumbled.

Oblivious to Cordelia's bad mood, Harmony remained cheerful with hand gestures and perky dialogue. "Halloween. So, like, what are we planning? It's next week and we haven't planned a single thing."

"Ask me tomorrow Harmony," Cordelia muttered dejectedly, turning to walk in the opposite direction.

"Cordelia! What's your problem?"

Cordelia whirled back around to face the obnoxious blonde. "Everyone else's problems, that's what my problem is. For God's sake, ask anyone—ask Kathryn or Holly or Aura or Aphrodesia—just don't ask me. Okay?"

Harmony was confused, but she nodded anyway. "Sure, whatever."

*****

"Edna?" Miss Hancock called for the lady behind the desk at the print room, "Do you have the copy of the poster I gave you yesterday? I need the copies today; if possible."

"Sure dear. I'll be right with you," Edna Ross, the lady who worked in print room, had been doing the job for over twenty years already. She did copies of things for teachers, printed off notes to go home to parents and organised the school newspaper. When you gave something to her to copy, you'd never fail to get the right amount, right on time. "A-ha, here they are. Right where I left them."

"Thank you. We're rushing to get all this stuff done in time and it's feels so good to finally have things under wraps."

"No problem and good luck."

In Miss Hancock's hands were the posters for the Homecoming dance. **I can just imagine those two fighting it out for the crown. Cordelia Chase and Kathryn Summers; friends yet foes...** She shook her head and hurried to the gym where the organising committee was working out decorations for the dance that was to come just a few days after Halloween. They still had plenty of time, but you could never be too careful.

*****

Buffy took the car home before heading back to school to meet up with Angel. She had decided during English that it would be awkward. She also changed into a pair of jeans, black singlet top with a white loose-knit jumper over the top. Nice, yet casual.

She watched the team from the bleachers along with a few others who were waiting for friends or girlfriends or boyfriends. The cheerleaders were using part of the running track for their practice and according to Willow, there was going to be a game tomorrow.

The Razorbacks' second game of the season had been against Brighton High; a high school in a town about the same size as Sunnydale that was near Oxnard (who they had beaten, 20-13). Every time Sunnydale played against Brighton, the Razorbacks had beaten Brighton's Badgers, no sweat. Some of the other schools, however, weren't such pushovers. Such as Mundine High, which had had the best team in the area for eight years running.

Hopefully with Angel as their new quarterback, they'd have a better year than the last.

Tomorrow's match would be against Mundine, and the team had been training extra hard for it for the past week and a half.

Coach Denovan had been working them harder than ever and putting all his players on protein-rich diets as well as extra-intense weight training, strategising, and tackling. They were all set and geared up to face Mundine, as were the cheerleaders.

As soon as the coach blew his whistle—signalling the end of the training—Buffy noticed people leaving the bleachers. When Buffy finally spotted Angel in the small crowd, Buffy smiled and waved.

She picked up her coat and headed down the steps toward him. She briefly wondered if this relationship would ever amount to anything. Would she ever be his girlfriend?

"Hey Buffy. When did you get here?" Angel asked, searching his bag for the bottle of water he'd put in that morning before he'd left the house.

"Oh, not too long ago," Buffy answered. She bit on her lower to stop herself from kissing him right there and then: right in front of the cheerleaders who were still trying to perfect their pyramid. So far so good, but it still needed some work along with some of their flips and moves. Buffy, however, wasn't doing so good with the whole "resisting temptation" thing.

"I have to shower, but I'll only be few minutes. Just wait for me here. Is that okay? Cos I'm sure I smell really bad. I'm not too sure anyone would want to go anywhere with a sweaty, dirty, chunked up guy like me." Angel shrugged his shoulders slightly to make himself more comfortable in his 'chunky' pads and picked up his bag.

"Go," Buffy said. She lowered her voice and whispered in his ear, "Before I kiss you—right here and now—in front of all those big mouthed cheerleaders." She playfully pushed him toward the locker rooms, glad that he didn't smell *too* bad.

Buffy grinned at the way Angel looked back to check that she was still waiting for her. The look on his face made him seem younger than he really was, less serious. **Is that a good or bad thing?** Buffy pondered the thought until she felt a soft tap on her shoulder.

"Cordelia."

"Why do you have to do this? What on earth has Kathryn ever done to you?" Cordelia asked. She had been watching from afar—where the cheerleaders had been practicing on the other side of the field—and was just bursting to say something to Kathryn. It had been eating at her conscience for days on end and she still hadn't decided yet.

"I think you might like to reconsider that particular question."

"Alright, so she hasn't treated you like royalty these years, but neither have you," Cordelia snapped.

"And what's in it for you? If this is so important to you, why don't you tell her?"

Cordelia didn't know what to say. She breathed in and clasped her hands nervously, "I don't know. I guess I'm just scared of what I turned her into." Cordelia sat down on the bench next the field where the team had left all their stuff before and put her pompoms next her.

**What the hell? Is she doing what I think she is?** "Go on," Buffy prodded gently, sitting down next to a distressed Cordy. She held her hands through her hair and sat in momentary silence.

"I don't know what happened to her to make her like this. I swear, I never knew. The cross, the guys, everything; it's her. She fucked herself up and half of that was because of me. You're asking me why I'm doing this? It's because I feel like I owe her something."

Buffy looked at Cordelia and realised that she wasn't joking. And what did she mean by 'it's her'? How had Kathryn become this way if it wasn't from Cordelia's influence? "It's not your fault? But then...how?"

"I already said that I didn't know. It just happened. And I couldn't convince her otherwise. She just started with the whole coke thing and then it was guys and then more guys until she was cheating on guys she was cheating on someone else with."

Buffy took Cordelia's hand in her own, "I'm a bit lost, but I believe you. And one of these days, one of us is going to finally have the guts to face up to her."

Cordelia had never really had a real friend before. Not someone who was her friend because they wanted to be part of the 'in' crowd or because she'd pretended to be someone she wasn't. "I hope it'll be soon. You two look good together."

"I never thought I'd ever hear you give me a compliment," Buffy said with a grin.

"Well, don't get used to it," Cordelia said with a sly grin. She looked at the time on her watch, "Shit, I've got to go home already. Bye."

"Bye, Cordy."

*****

"Where are we going?" Buffy wailed. "We've been driving for about 10 minutes already and you still haven't told me where the hell we're going."

"We're nearly there," Angel told her, already able to see their destination.

"How near is 'nearly'? Cos I don't see much except road, trees, dirt. Lots of dirt, sky, and an old drive-in," Buffy rambled on about the surroundings but Angel wasn't paying much attention. He watched her expressions when she spoke and the way she'd use rapid hand gestures and the way she was so...'adorable' would be the word Buffy would hate for him to use; but it fitted.

"We're going to the old drive-in?" Buffy crinkled her nose in a way that almost made Angel laugh.

"Yeah. What's wrong with it?" Angel asked and got out of his car. He made his way to the other side to open the door for her, the gentlemanly way he'd been taught all his life.

"It's old and unsafe?" Buffy stepped out of the car and looked uncertainly at the drive-in.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Then come," Angel took her hand and guided her across the empty lot and showed her the ladder behind the large screen. "Don't worry; it's safe."

"I bet you take all the girls here," Buffy commented playfully and was eternally grateful that she'd decided to wear pants instead of a dress or a skirt.

"No. Just you."

The top of the screen was wide enough to walk along safely and was still sturdy enough to hold their combined weight. Buffy walked to the opposite end and sat on the edge. "It's beautiful."

"I know," Angel replied and sat down next to her. From where they were, they could see the whole of Sunnydale and the dim light coming from Oxnard in the distance. The drive-in had been built on the hill that overlooked Sunnydale to make it more romantic with the moon and stars and stuff, but the council had closed it down and declared it to be unsafe because of asbestos.

"I never picked you as the romantic type. I mean, football player and all," Buffy turned her head to face him and gasped at how close they were sitting. "Not in a bad way, of course."

"I guess I got that gene from my mother," Angel said before capturing her soft, pink lips in a kiss.

"Well then maybe I should thank your mother," Buffy whispered in his ear after their kiss had left their faces lingeringly close.

Angel chuckled and took her lips in another kiss, turning more intimate when their hands groped for more contact. When Buffy felt Angel's hand slip completely under her top, she pulled away from his kiss.

"What's wrong?"

"We should go slower."

"Sure, I can do slow," Angel smirked and pulled her against him for a slow and tender kiss. "Slow enough for you?"

"It's just right."


	13. Part 13 - Halloween (extra long part)

**Part 13**

Giles and Miss Calendar were still discussing the pros and cons of using computers compared to books—a discussion they'd been having since the week before.

"No, you see books are too slow. And you have to go over every single word and it just takes too much time," Jenny argued, taking a sip of the steaming mug of coffee in her hands. "Ugh, whatever this is, it definitely isn't coffee."

"Hey, d-don't change the subject!" Giles said and set up two cups on saucers and poured them both a cup of tea. "See? I was winning wasn't I?"

"Get over yourself already. Can't anyone comment on the coffee around here?" Jenny set down her mug onto the library's front desk and gladly accepted the tea from Giles.

"You know, uh, Jenny, um..." Giles stuttered.

"Hmm?"

"Would it a-appear indecorous... Uh, no, not in-in-indecorous um..."

"Yeah...?"

"Well, um... Wha..." Giles exhaled, trying to get the words exactly right. He'd been trying to work up the nerve to ask Miss Calendar out for weeks and at the rate he was going, it'd be the next millennium before he'd finally get it out. "Ah, ah, um..."

Jenny looked at her watch and gulped down the rest of her tea, "Rupert, look, I've gotta go. I have a class."

"What, what I'm proposing is..." Suddenly, the bell rang, startling the already slightly frazzled librarian out of his tweed.

"Ah! I gotta go! Sorry!" Jenny picked up her things from the countertop and started heading toward the library doors. After second thought, she turned back and saw Giles muttering something to himself. "Hey! Listen, if it's important, why don't you just tell me at the game?"

"Game? Oh, uh, you're going to the football game?"

"Yeah, you seem surprised," she smiled.

"No! I-I-I-I-I-I-I just assumed y-you spent your e-e-evenings downloading things on your computer and-and-and preparing classes."

"On game night? Are you nuts? You're going, too, right?"

"Oh, oh, of course," Giles exclaimed lamely, "Always, always do."

"So, we should just go together! Look, I could pick you up after school, and we'll grab a bite to eat on the way if you like. How do you feel about Mexican?" Jenny asked casually.

Giles nodded.

"Good! Okay! And whatever it is you wanna tell me, you can just tell me then. Okay?"

"Okay. Tonight then." Giles watched Jenny leave the library and turned back to the small pile of books in front of him. "That went well. I think."

*****

Xander, Willow, Oz and Buffy opted for going to the game instead hanging out at the half-empty Bronze. Giles and Jenny had already arrived and found seats in the bleachers and had loaded up on popcorn, chips, drinks and souvenirs.

"Well would you look at that. The bookworm and the computer teacher at a football game. Am I the only one who finds it strange?" Xander asked when he spotted the two of them, sticking out like sore thumbs in the crowd of teens.

"Yeah, but also, it looks like they're on a date," Willow commented before realising the implications.

"Did we just hear 'Giles' and 'date' in the same sentence?" Buffy asked, making a face at the thought. It was like the thought that her own parents had had sex. Gross and grosser.

"Yeah, I think we did," Oz replied.

The small group—who were missing Spike (who was still in England for the funeral) and Faith (on one of her unannounced walkabouts, again)—headed toward the two adults buried amongst the bleachers on the other side of the field. It was apparent to everyone that Giles wasn't all too comfortable with the whole idea of going to a football game where they hardly even used their feet. In fact, he looked just about ready to run away except for the fact that he was spending the time with Miss Calendar.

"Hey Giles," Buffy smiled sweetly (in a sarcastic and suggestive way) at her uncle while the others proceeded to squish into the empty seats next to and in front of the two. Buffy almost had to hold her lips together to keep from laughing at Giles' distressed reaction.

"Buffy. And Willow, Oz and Xander...what are you doing here?" Giles asked as if it were an anomaly to find teenagers at a football game at their own school.

Buffy gave the muddled librarian a Look. "Maybe I should ask you the same question. You guys on a date?"

*****

"Oh my God, I think they won...and against Mundine High too..." Xander muttered in a non-committal tone.

"I think they did," Oz in his usual way and looked around at the rest of the crowd cheering. "Okay then, I'm sure we did."

"Cool, maybe we could make it to the state championships this year," Willow beamed. "Ooh, Buffy, there's Angel. Maybe you should go down there and congratulate him. Or something."

"Or something..." Buffy said in a dejected tone. "I mean, I don't think it'd be such a good idea. I mean...Kathryn could be here...somewhere."

"Why are you so scared anyway? Maybe you should fight back, or-or-or tell her the truth."

"Liking the whole idea, except the 'tell her the truth' bit."

*****

"Buffy, are you sure about this?" Willow asked.

"You asked me the same question when I ran for Student Body President. Besides, you told me to fight back. Well I'm fighting...I'm fight-girl," Buffy replied while they worked on the database Willow had started for Buffy. "But not exactly 'fight-girl' cos it sounds kinda odd."

"But isn't Homecoming Queen more...bitchy?"

"Yes, well, the way I figure, Kathryn is running. As is Cordelia, Michelle Blake and Holly Charleston. If I run, then I could either win or at least splinter my dear sister's vote. You see what I'm getting at, right?" Buffy asked as she tried to follow Willow's draft (yet already much too complicated) database.

"Oh...good thinking, when can we start running off the posters?"

*****

Buffy gazed around their newly transformed living room and admired she, Willow, Xander, Oz, Spike (who had returned from England with his personality still intact and a sudden dislike for tea) and Faith's joint efforts. It was no surprise that Kathryn's crowd had voted themselves to do the shopping to get the food, drink and everything else. After all, they'd get to go to the mall. **Pfft, it's as if they never get to go to the mall...**

Buffy was still wondering how they had somehow ended up agreeing to having a joint Halloween bash. It was beyond Kathryn to ever relent to anything her sisters suggested. Stranger things have happened.

Back to the point though, the room was carefully decorated as they'd previously planned. There was still plenty of time until the party was supposed to start, but as Miss Hancock always said "You can never be too careful."

On one wall of the expansive living room, a plastic mirror was hung with a hologram where the mirror was supposed to be to make it seem like the one in Snow White. All the furniture had been moved painstakingly by Spike, Oz and Xander (not very muscular men, really...). Well...it wasn't so painstaking when Faith pitched in (luckily) and they had all of the rest of the furniture moved within ten minutes.

Plastic skeletons were hung from the mantle over the fireplace. The mouth of the fireplace had been covered with red cloth and a light was placed behind it to make it seem as if it glowed. The glowing red light that filtered through the gaps made by the bones of the plastic skeletons made them look more sinister than they really were.

Black cloth had been hung to cover up the designer wallpaper that their mother had had put up only two months ago so that it wouldn't get soiled by rowdy partygoers. Willow and Buffy had decided that the cloth looked too boring and had started decorating it with every kind of glitter they could find using some of Dawn's craft glue. They didn't get very much done before lunchtime rolled around. By then it seemed hopeless to try to decorate the rest since no one would notice it anyway.

A partition had also been put up after Buffy begged Mai Lee to dig it up out of the attic for them. It had been placed strategically that you could only go to the living room after entering the house. The rest of the house (of course) was off-limits—Joyce's orders. They'd even put up a sign at the centre of the partition, in big, bold lettering.

The rest of the decorations were pretty standard—streamers, the usual motifs of witches on broomsticks, toothy pumpkins and other Halloween-associated scary stuff. Fairy lights had been strung in haphazard patterns all over the ceiling. It all looked pretty good, especially the hologram.

"I think we're done," Buffy announced.

"Thank goodness; we've been at it for hours. No one knows neck ache like people who've been staring at the ceiling for a whole hour putting up those fairy lights," Willow said as she plugged the lights into the electrical socket.

Faith was sprawled on the floor in exhaustion. "Can I curl up and die now?"

"No, you can party and then you can curl up and die. All this work and we don't get to party? Nuh-uh," Xander shook his head. "We gotta shake our funky party weasels."

"Yeah and I also don't want any dead people lying on the floor of our living room when people start arriving," Buffy said, offering a hand to help her dark-haired friend up.

"Well if we ever want to actually *go* to the damn party, we'd better get chopping. Only a few hours left 'til party time and I'm planning to hoard the punch," Spike said with a mischievous grin. "What?"

Buffy gave him a deadly glare, "Forgive the pun, but please don't spike the punch."

"No problemo amigo," Spike replied and stood stiffly with his hands behind his back. The grin never left his face. Well, until Faith hit him upside the head. "Ow. That hurt. You hit too hard."

"Great. We're all going to have hangovers tomorrow. At least we'll know who to blame though," Xander grinned in an equally mischievous way.

"Shut up, Xander," Spike muttered. "We all know you're still bitter over not having a bird of your own, but you don't have to take it out on me."

Xander fumed, "Oh yeah? I'm not bitter, I'm just waiting for the right one...I don't want to end up with a dud."

"Nice excuse. Not gonna work with me, lad."

"Hey, hey, hey! No fighting," Willow declared. "We don't need anymore testosterone sparkage in here."

"Ditto that," Oz raised his hand.

Buffy shrugged, "Arguments relieve stress. Those little squishy balls just aren't as good as the real thing," everyone raised their eyebrows. "So I've heard."

"Ditto that too," Oz agreed again. "Stress balls don't do anything but make funny faces at you.

*****

"Trick or treat!" A group of small children in costume stood on the Summers' doorstep with smiles plastered on their faces and slightly filled bags for candy collecting in their hands.

"Oh how adorable," Joyce exclaimed and reached into the bowl in her hands and dished out candy to each of the kids. It was still relatively early—not even dark yet—and all three of the Summers girls were getting ready for their Halloween parties; be it right there at Casa del Summers or across town at Janice Davis' house.

Joyce closed the door with a smile and a wave and turned to find Dawn standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting in her Morticia Addams costume.

"Mom, I'm ready to go now."

"So early? I thought Janice's party starts at six," Joyce checked the clock that had only recently taken to be fixed that was standing atop the table that stood in the hall, "but it's only five-thirty. Honey, you know it doesn't take half an hour to drive there. What's the rush?"

"Oh nothing," Dawn said innocently. "Kathryn's in one of her moods again, that's all."

Joyce sighed and grabbed the keys from beside the clock and reopened the door. "Fine, we'll go. On a scale of one to ten, how bad?"

"Oh it's not that bad...about...a seven."

"The last time you said that we got a broken window."

"I know."

Joyce shook her head and locked the door behind her.

*****

Kathryn had rummaged through her wardrobe for the past 20 minutes and she STILL couldn't find the pants she had been looking for. Those black three-quarter pants should've been in there...she had a perfect memory of Mai Lee putting them in...

Kathryn sighed and leant back against the wall. She repeatedly hit her head against the wall, trying to remember where they might be. "Buffy!" Kathryn called out. If it wasn't her, then she had no clue what the hell happened to her pants. If she couldn't find them she would have to be Audrey Hepburn, and she REALLY didn't have time for the hair.

"What?" Buffy asked, innocently poking her head into her sister's room. She had heard Kathryn interrogating Dawn about her pants and wasn't really jonesing for the same interrogation for herself. There had already been enough conflict over the whole Homecoming Queen thing. Besides, she still had a few more things to do for the party and the rest of her makeup to apply. She hardly had enough time for her own problems, let alone Kathryn's.

"Have you seen my three-quarter black pants? I need them. NOW!" Kathryn yelled. The sun was setting outside, signalling the nearing of the beginning of the Halloween party to be held downstairs.

"Have you asked Mai Lee? I don't know where they are," Buffy replied and left to deal with her own problems.

Kathryn shook her head. She doubted that Buffy had taken the pants, not after knowing what could happen to her. **I bet she even locked the door of her room...scaredy cat.** Kathryn opened the top of the crucifix sitting on her desk and just couldn't resist. After all, she'd have to deal with this problem and then she still had to figure out how to put on that wig so that it wouldn't look...blah...

"Mai Lee!"

*****

"Oh my God, thank you Mai Lee," Kathryn exclaimed as Mai Lee pointed out the pants hanging in the laundry. They been freshly laundered and ironed. "You know, I could just kiss you, but I don't want to wreck my lipstick."

"You are welcome, Kathryn," Mai Lee thanked her awkwardly and turned back to attend to the rest of the large pile of ironing. Since Mr. Summers returned, the pile had grown considerably larger and not for the first time, she wished that he had bought some of those non-iron shirts she'd heard about.

Kathryn took her pants and left. There was only half an hour left and she still hadn't even put on her whole costume yet. After much thought, she'd decided to dress up as Mia Wallace—the character Uma Thurman played in Pulp Fiction—since she almost had the whole costume already, why not? Stilettos; a very tight, white shirt; three-quarter black pants (previously missing, now found) and bright red lipstick. The only thing she didn't have was the wig and when she found the perfect one while at the mall just a few days ago, she'd decided to settle on it. And if it didn't work, she could always whip out one of her formal black dresses, a string of pearls, a pair of black gloves, a tiara and be Holly Golightly (from Breakfast at Tiffany's). And to top it all off, a French twist, courtesy of Joyce who had many years of experience from having to do them for her mother for going to church on Sundays.

*****

Buffy smoothed out all the nonexistent wrinkles in the bodice of her dress and put on the earrings that were sitting there so temptingly in front of her on the dresser. The full length mirror revealed Buffy in her costume—an eighteenth century noblewoman's dress she's purchased the year before and had never been worn. Of course it was just the costume variety which was lighter, not so elaborate and made of less expensive material, but it made her feel like a real eighteenth century girl.

Since her hair was too short and too blonde to look good in ringlets, she had done the same as Kathryn and bought a wig. It went well with the colour of her dress and the filigree comb she'd found amongst her mother's jewellery and had borrowed it—just for the night.

She tucked a loose ringlet of hair behind her ear and headed downstairs to greet any early birds. It was still rather early and she'd heard a few trick-or-treaters coming and going and hoped it wouldn't be too long until she got to talk to Angel.

*****

*ding dong*

Buffy opened the door and found all her friends on her doorstep. Right on time too.

"Trick or treat!" Willow and Xander exclaimed, with grins on their faces like the little kids that Buffy had just handed out candy to only five minutes ago.

"I don't have to say 'How adorable!' do I?" Buffy asked before letting them inside.

"No, but can I have some candy anyway? Spikey boy over there wouldn't let us go next door first to visit kind old Mrs. Williamson for some cake. Boy am I hungry," Xander said and glanced nervously around the hallway.

"Always thinking with your stomach...doesn't your mother feed you?"

"Not in the strictest sense."

"There's some candy left in the bowl over there," Buffy pointed to a half empty glass mixing bowl near the door, "but I think mom said not to let you gorge on them. For trick-or-treating kids only."

"But I said trick or treat fair and square! And I did the adorable smile thing too!"

Buffy laughed at the look on Xander's face. "Fine, but you can only have two."

Xander had dressed up as Jimmy Olsen with a bright blue suit, a red bowtie and his hair dyed orange (with temporary dye of course). Willow had decided to dress up as a Wiccan after sighting the perfect dress in a magic shop at the mall. Oz had decided to stay natural and come as a groupie. He even wore a t-shirt with the words 'I am a groupie' printed on it. Spike had decided to come as a vampire and wore a pair of plastic fangs and a whole lot of black leather (which he seemed to already own a lot of…which was strange because he'd only ever worn the odd leather jacket)...between him and Faith, there were many dead cows. Faith came as the Devil, with a pair of red, glittery devil horns, dark eye makeup and a whole lot of red leather.

Kathryn came thundering down the stairs with her dangerous high stilettos in hand. "Hey, who-" she began to ask, but stopped short at the sight of the group of mismatched people Buffy called 'friends'. "Oh, never mind then."

Kathryn ignored them and moved aside the partition to get to the kitchen.

"Well..." Xander broke the silence in Kathryn's wake nervously.

"Don't mind her. Did I mention there was food? Of the chips and dips kind of course. And freshly made punch. Grandma Giles' original recipe," Buffy ushered them into the living room and fixed the partition just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

*ding dong*

Buffy opened the door to find Cordelia and Harmony on the other side. "Now would ya look at that; Dorothy and Barbie are standing on our doorstep," Buffy said sarcastically. Cordelia had donned bright red lipstick, curly pigtails (with blue ribbons), a checkered dress, a white short-sleeved blouse, a pair of sky blue socks and a pair of ruby slippers (well, actually, they were just a pair red pumps but who really noticed?).

"Hey! How'd you guess I was dressed up as Barbie?" Harmony said (well, wailed would've been closer).

"Aren't you supposed to look like Barbie? Besides, the pink gives it away," Buffy opened the door for them to get through and found a crowd of guests arriving on their driveway. At the same time, Hank Summers was struggling to drive up the driveway without hitting anyone.

Buffy watched as the guests streamed through in costumes ranging from Roman togas to aliens from out of space. She didn't even know that there were that many people coming...not that their living room was too small to fit everyone inside. Even though she felt as if she'd seen half of the population of Sunnydale pass through their door, Buffy still had yet to catch sight of Angel.

Buffy recognised the African-American guy on her doorstep dressed as Robin Hood to be one of Angel's friends. She'd seen him around campus and at the game last week and she'd found out that Angel's two closest friends were Gunn and Doyle. Next to him was a woozy-looking, fair-skinned, dark haired guy with a bottle in his hand.

"Hi, you two must be Gunn and Doyle. I've heard about you," Buffy said nervously.

"And since you're being nice, I'd say that you'd be Buffy," Gunn said with a smile. He took off his hat and bowed melodramatically, "Charles Gunn, at your service ma'am."

Buffy laughed and curtsied politely, "Thank you kind sir, but could you please tell your friend that alcohol isn't allowed even though I'm sure the punch has probably already been spiked?"

"I think its part of his costume. He ditched the Little John costume and decided to come as a drunk."

Buffy laughed and let them through, "I'll make an exception then."

*****

Buffy quit the whole meet and greet thing soon after her encounter with Gunn and Doyle in favour of enjoying the party. After all, her mother had insisted that she would watch the door in case there were late trick-or-treaters, stragglers or anyone else who might be roaming around on Halloween.

She still hadn't yet seen Angel yet nor had she seen her sister and whether it was good or bad was unclear to her. She'd just about seen everyone except for those two… **Where are those two? If I didn't know better then I'd think Kathryn had dragged him into a closet somewhere.**

Buffy scanned the crowd and found Willow sipping punch with Oz near the fireplace. "Willow, have you seen Angel?"

Willow smiled and pointed across the other side of the room. Buffy traced the direction of Willow's finger with her gaze and found Angel—in a three piece pinstripe suit—talking to one of the guys in the band that was setting up. **Band?!** "Why is there a band?"

Willow shrugged and turned to Oz for comment.

"What? Don't look at me; they look like they're from out of town. Or something."

"Or something," Buffy echoed and picked up her skirt and begun to fight her way across the room. She was stopped when she was almost there by a tap on her shoulder.

"Great party Summers!" Some guy she didn't know shouted over the din. **Probably one of Kathryn's friends. After all, I'm wearing that wig…and that guy looks drunk...**

"Thanks, but I think you've got the wrong sister," Buffy said before feeling herself being pulled into someone else's embrace. **What? Who now? I knew it was a mistake to wear the wig…** She hadn't even gotten a look at the person yet, for all she knew, it could've been Xander. **Or it could be Angel...** she thought when she noticed who it was.

He kissed her briefly before letting her back down on the ground. He hadn't even noticed that he'd picked her up...talk about being swept off her feet... "I've been searching for you everywhere Ka-" Angel stopped before looking more intensely into her green eyes, "Buffy? I thought you were Kathryn. I hope you didn't dye your hair...you didn't right?"

"Of course, and it somehow grew long, curled itself and retains a plasticky texture. Why are you so late?"

"Mom was in with the flu, dad is visiting my sick grandmother and I was stuck with having to take Kathy trick-or-treating. Plus, I knew you didn't have a band so I when I bumped into Penn, I asked him to come and play."

Buffy punched him playfully in the arm. "You could've given us some warning! Not that I don't appreciate it of course. And who are supposed to be?"

Angel's worried expression cracked into a sexy lopsided grin that made Buffy melt. "Rhett Butler...but I didn't get enough time to do the whole moustache thing. Anyway, Penn's one of my oldest friends and he owed me a favour. So...do you wanna-"

"Angel?" Kathryn appeared from behind him. Buffy's eyes widened and she hoped beyond hope that she hadn't seen the kiss they'd shared. **Or all the ones last week or heard about all the ones from week before and all those other times when she was still grounded.** Now was not exactly the best time to tell, even though Buffy was already sick and tired of having to go behind her back all the time. As far as she was concerned, no time would be a good time to ever face the wrath of a betrayed Kathryn Summers.

"Kathryn. I was beginning to wonder if you'd show," Buffy spoke nervously while she fidgeted with the lace of her dress.

"We were just talking," Angel said awkwardly, "...about my friend Penn. His band almost finished setting up."

"A band?" Kathryn asked with her eyebrows raised in perfect arches. She had only recently been let off her punishment and she was not about to get in trouble again because of an unannounced... "Band?! Why is there a band?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and backed away. She didn't want to see the two of them together...not even for a second.

*****

Buffy stood at the door and watched as people started leaving the party. Some in pairs, some in large groups and some by themselves. She waved to her friends as they left together in Oz's van. Mr. Gordo purred in her arms, the sound comforting her slightly.

Angel approached from behind and scared Buffy to death with an unexpected hand on the shoulder.

"Ah! What the hell are you trying to do? Scare me shitless?" Buffy scolded him. Mr. Gordo was agitated by her jerky movements and forced Buffy to let him back down. He purred and wound himself around Angel's leg and yawned.

"No, I was going to say that you look beautiful tonight which I didn't get to say because of the interruption."

"You're forgiven. You look good as well. I must also admit that I've never seen anyone with a costume from Gone with the Wind. And I think Mr. Gordo really likes you as well," Buffy glanced down at her cat and chuckled as he settled at Angel's feet and looked just about ready to fall asleep.

"Well, I'll see you soon?" he asked, gently removing his foot from underneath Mr. Gordo.

"Of course," Buffy glanced around before planting a soft kiss on his lips and practically having to push him out the door to stop the temptation building up. Buffy picked up Mr. Gordo and together they headed up the stairs, "Now how'd it get so late?"


	14. Part 14 - Homecoming

**Part 14**

Kathryn had been suspecting that something was up for the past few days. Now that she had finally been released from being grounded, she'd expected that Angel would be willing to spend his time with her. Instead, he came up with the lamest excuses like his mum having the flu or that he his father was having guests for dinner or something like that. Whether they were true or not, Kathryn didn't know, but she could just feel that something was up. He was her longest lasting boyfriend so far and she wasn't about to let it fizzle out all by itself just because she had been grounded and had been under close surveillance for the past few weeks.

**Could he be cheating on me? No, he's smarter than that. He knows what will happen...unless...no, don't go there...** Kathryn was being paranoid and she knew it. Besides, it was the Homecoming dance tonight and everything was perfect. The only things missing were the corsage that Angel was sure to bring and the Homecoming Queen crown. Her dress was immaculate, her makeup was flawless and her hair was absolutely perfect (and so secure that she could sleep, ride on a motorcycle and go bungee jumping without it falling out of place). Her hairdresser made sure of that after the incident not so long ago with Spring Fling.

Kathryn smiled in content at the sound of the doorbell's chime. *ding dong* Kathryn busied herself in checking that she had everything—lipstick, powder press, her coke crucifix, mini perfume spray, keys, and a few condoms...just in case.

By the time Joyce had called up the stairs to announce her boyfriend's arrival, Kathryn had taken her shoes out of the box and put them on. After all, she wasn't in that much of a rush. It was traditional to make the guy wait while you get ready, even if you've been ready for over an hour and have just been sitting around, waiting for them to arrive. Kathryn checked her reflection and decided she really did need that necklace after all. She'd been undecided until she checked her whole outfit just then and was certain that she needed the extra accessory. A simple chain with a pendant on it in the shape of a crown; it'd been part of her birthday present from Angel.

She descended the stairs gracefully in a pale green, sparsely embroidered, one shoulder dress with accents of red fabric scattered among the flowing silk satin skirt. It was absolutely beautiful and had cost a pretty penny, but with the money she'd saved from her large allowance, she was able to afford the expensive designer couture gown. She wore an elegant vintage-style brooch—which had belonged to their grandmother—from which five short strands of pearls hung. It worked well with her outfit and her feminine hairstyle—which also had a few pins in it which had pearls on them. And to finish it off, she had found a shawl in a slightly darker green than her dress; the colours contrasted and complimented each other and made a beautiful combination which went well with her dark hair and fair complexion.

"Wow...I mean... You look terrific," Angel gushed. He had always been attracted by her looks; there was probably only one man in the whole town who wouldn't be mesmerised by her stunning looks and that person would be Hank Summers. But that would be exaggerating it just a bit too much. Angel was certain some of her teachers wouldn't nor would her uncle, Mr. Giles...and hopefully not his own father.

"Thanks," Kathryn replied simply, and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

Angel wordlessly offered the corsage that he'd bought for her along with a dozen blood red roses that Kathryn had decided went well with her dress but would have to stay at home. She handed them to Mai Lee to put into a vase for her and had even given her a slight smile for her efforts.

"The limo is waiting outside but since Buffy needed a ride as well, I kind of offered to..." Angel gulped. He, Kathryn, Gunn, Doyle and Cordelia had decided to all share a limo and split the cost. When he found out that Buffy still needed a ride and that she didn't want to take a car or get someone to drive halfway across town just to pick her up, he'd offered to give Buffy a lift there as well. The others were completely fine with it and Angel had made it a point to not consult Kathryn on the idea either. She would have reacted in a very not-good way. Just like she was now...

"What?" her eyes widened as Angel shrugged apologetically. Kathryn threw her hands up in frustration. "Fine...whatever." Kathryn flung open the door and hurried to the awaiting limousine, eager to get out of the chilly evening weather.

Buffy didn't waste time with pleasantries when she'd arrived in time to see Kathryn walking as fast as she could to get away from Angel. Buffy had opted for a pale violet dress—much simpler than Kathryn's—with a tight-fitting bodice, full skirt, spaghetti straps and an elaborate beaded flower motif along the hem of the skirt. The bodice had been decorated sparingly with sparkly silver rhinestones that started out densely near the top and fizzled out gradually up to her waistline.

Not long after, they were able to leave; an uncomfortable silence hung among them all the way to the Bronze. There was no doubt it was because of what everyone knew and Kathryn didn't.

*****

The Bronze was packed with students who had already arrived and dressed in formalwear. Kathryn had no doubt that she would be the best dressed girl there not just because of her clothes but because of having Angel on her arm dressed in a tux. A tux that made him look even hotter than usual. **Very drool-worthy...who would want Brad Pitt when you can have Angel? Not that they can, cos I'm having him all to myself...**

Kathryn immediately spotted Harmony talking to Randall Clark—one of Angel's loose circle of friends from being in the football team. Cordelia and Kathryn left the rest of the guys to talk to her, for what reason they talked so much, Angel still didn't know. They always seemed to be either talking or shopping...and for a moment Angel wondered if they should be considered shallow.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Buffy, letting him know that she was going off on her own. Her eyes told him that she wanted him to tell Kathryn—just as they'd discussed just the day before. It was killing him. On one hand he had the most popular, beautiful girl in school (although also the bitchiest). The wet dream of most of Sunnydale High's male population despite her cruel tendencies and bad attitude. On the other hand he had her twin—the nice, sweet, innocent, blonde (a pet preference of Angel's ever since he was fourteen), less popular version yet just as pretty. It was supposed to be the easiest choice in the world...but sometimes the simplest things could turn into the most complicated things if you think hard enough about it.

Kathryn was the kind of girl he was supposed to date—the popular one. Buffy however... At least it wasn't like the whole 'Romeo-and-Juliet' deal. (Although Cordelia had informed him that Kathryn knew a guy in gang that owed her a favour. Angel hadn't asked why and was sure that he didn't want to know.)

Angel was dreading having to make a decision. He was hoping for a miracle to happen to get him out of it. Already he was having a nagging feeling that it wouldn't be secret for much longer. It was bothering him even more than that inkling of a feeling that he could already have fallen in love with one of them...

*****

As well as having a DJ, the Dingoes were going to make a brief appearance. Apparently it was Miss Hancock's idea to have them play "because of their popularity among the student body" but a few people reckoned that it was because she was a closet Dingoes fan.

It was getting to the time to announce who the students had picked as Homecoming King and Queen. Cordelia waited anxiously with Harmony and the large group of Cordettes who had made an appearance.

"Good luck, Buffy," Willow whispered to her.

Buffy gulped and smiled uncertainly, "Thanks for your help."

Xander had his mouth full of finger food and tried to say 'good luck' as well, but it came out sounding more like "mmph hrrph". Spike and Faith were so caught up with each other that they hadn't noticed anything going on around them for the past half an hour. Which was pretty much a common occurrence for the two of them.

Kathryn stood next to Angel with a confident grin on her face. After all, she'd always taught herself to always be confident in herself and project an outward appearance as such. Although it didn't always work when her temper got the better of her, it'd been pretty successful the last few times she'd tried it. Kathryn gripped Angel's hand tightly and looked for reassurance but instead found him in a state of deep thought and hardly in tune with his surroundings.

Devon took the microphone off its stand and accepted the envelope from Miss Hancock, who was grinning at him awkwardly from in between the wings.

Experience had taught him to not worry about making mistakes and did his best to act as if Homecoming Queen wasn't one of the most important popularity contests at SHS.

"Hey, guys, the moment we've all been waiting for," Devon said casually and waited for the crowd's cheering to die down. "First of all, I'd like you all to give a big round of applause to Miss Hancock and the organising committee for doing such a great job with the...organising this year." He rattled off a few thank yous that had been put into his script by Miss Hancock before getting to the important stuff.

Sunnydale High's Homecoming King and Queen 1998.

"In this envelope, I hold the names of this year's Homecoming King and Queen," Devon held up the cream coloured envelope in his hand with a red foil sticker holding down the flap. He tore it open and read the names on the card inside. "You would not be surprised to hear that Angel Ferguson is our Homecoming King but I know you *will* be surprised to hear that our Homecoming Queen is none other than..." Devon paused dramatically and the tension in the room was so thick it could probably be sliced with a knife. "...Buffy Summers."

Kathryn's face fell at the mention of her sister's name and hardly even noticed that Angel had left her arms. She closed her eyes briefly and regained her composure. She ignored the balloons and confetti falling from above and the voice of Cordelia saying her name again and again. Instead she kept her eyes glued on the tiara on Buffy's head and the smiles on both their faces.

She hardly even noticed the chanting of the crowd around her. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. Kathryn's eyes widened in realisation and kept her eyes glued as their lips met. **Bitch. Get your lips off my boyfriend and that crown off your little blonde head.** Kathryn started to storm toward the stage in the midst of her rage.

She felt two strong hands on her shoulders holding her back. Cordelia.

"Let me go!" Kathryn hissed.

"No. Kathryn, what is your problem? Whatever it is, get over it," Cordelia said calmly and forcefully sat her friend into a chair.

"My problem is that my *boyfriend* is kissing my *sister* in front of the whole grade. And he's enj-" Kathryn paused. **Oh my God. The fucking bastard...** "He...he's cheating on me," Kathryn said with eyes wide open in realisation. "He'll pay for that."

*****

As soon as she could, Kathryn dragged Angel outside, away from everyone else so that they could have a private conversation.

"You know, I never expected this from you," Kathryn said bitterly.

"What?" Angel asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you cheating on me with my sister. Of all people."

"Look. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you what you want to hear. I'm not going to deny the truth. But it didn't mean anything-"

Unbeknownst to Angel, Buffy had followed them both outside and was currently standing behind him.

"It didn't mean anything, huh?" Buffy could feel the tears welling up and wished that she could just pinch herself and wake up and discover that it was all a dream. That winning the Homecoming crown was just a figment of her subconscious imagination.

"No! I mean, y-...no. I mean...I don't know!" Angel knew that this was the moment he'd been seizing himself up for all this time.

"Well then decide now, Angel. Who's it going to be? Me...or Buffy?"


	15. Part 15 - Rough Love

**Part 15**

"Well?" Buffy looked at Angel with as much contempt as she could muster. This wasn't exactly what she was expecting to happen, nor did she think it would be such a tough decision for him to make.

Angel looked back and forth from Kathryn to Buffy then back to Kathryn. All the pros and cons he'd been going through had not helped him come to a decision and had flown out of his head the very second Buffy had appeared behind him. Now, if only he could ask for a lifeline...but of course, his life wasn't a game show and he had no possibility of winning a million dollars if he got all the answers right. After all, there were no right or wrong answers.

Kathryn got sick of his indecision and slapped him, hard, across the cheek.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You know fucking well what it was for, you bastard," Kathryn said viciously.

"So...I assume the two of you agree to this ultimatum?" Angel asked uncertainly, flinching when he touched his tender cheek. By now there was probably a nice, pink handprint there. He was lucky that it was night and that there was only very dim lighting where they were standing in the alley on the side of the Bronze.

They both nodded and turned back to him for his decision.

Angel sighed. He had no other choice. He weighed the pros and cons and had tried just about everything to try to pick. He had asked every single one of his friends for help, including Gunn, Doyle, Penn, Randall, and a few others who still had not helped him. He had always liked the quote that went sort of like 'If you love someone, let them go. If they come back, then you'll know for sure that it was real.' Right now, he just needed to let go. At least, until he got his feelings straight.

"Well, then I pick neither of you." Angel glanced down sadly at his shoes, expecting the worse. Surprisingly, the two sisters remained silent and somewhat accepting of his decision.

Angel waited. And waited. But they still said nothing. Angel just nodded slightly and headed down the dark alley toward the main road and stopped only to hail a cab to take him home, leaving the two twins glaring at each other in the dark, dingy alleyway.

"I hope you're satisfied now," Kathryn told Buffy quietly and brushed past her to get back inside.

Buffy blinked away her tears and followed her sister in silence. There wasn't really anything to say.

*****

Buffy flipped through the CDs in her drawer and could find all but the one that she wanted to find. **Damn. Why'd she have to take it now?**

Buffy gave up her search for her Sarah McLachlan CD and instead took out her diary. She had hidden the lock's key by sticking it underneath her jewellery box with sticky tape (not as safely hidden as she guessed Kathryn would assume it would be). Inside the jewellery box lay her abandoned ID bracelet that had been a gift from Angel only a few weeks earlier on hers and Kathryn's birthday.

Upon seeing the bracelet fall out along a few other things that had been inside, Buffy felt tears threatening to spill from her struggling lids. Buffy picked the bracelet up and inspected it, hardly able to see through the fogginess of her tears. She sobbed momentarily and angrily tore the key off the bottom of the jewellery box and threw everything back in. He had betrayed her trust and she couldn't forgive him for that. Not in the state she was currently in.

She hurriedly unlocked the diary and picked up the pen on her bedside table and began to write.

_Dear diary,_

Why don't things ever go the way I intend for them to go? He was supposed to pick me over Kathryn... How can I trust him again if he can't even decide if he likes me more or the heinous bitch I call my sister? Is it really that hard for him to pick? I can see that he could like her for being the way she is, but I don't believe that Angel would be that kind of guy. Would he?

I wish I could know what was going on inside that head of his and understand what it is about Kathryn that makes him like her at all. She looks almost exactly like me, she's devious, she snorts cocaine, she's a bitch, she doesn't care about anyone except herself, and she's like...the slut-o-rama of the century. How endearing could she possibly be?

Actually, I've changed my mind. I don't want to know why, I just want him back! It's been so hard these past few days ignoring him in the hallways, not talking to him on the phone, not even making any sort of eye contact... I didn't think I was at first but... I think I love him. Ever since the Homecoming dance, I just haven't been able to concentrate on anything except thinking about what happened in that alley and mulling over why he didn't pick me. He almost said that what we had didn't mean anything to him! I can understand why he would've said it though. To protect me from Kathryn. I just wish I knew whether or not he feels the same as I do...not that there really is a chance of THAT happening since he obviously didn't pick me in that alley. I just wish I knew...

- Buffy

Buffy sighed as she re-read her badly scrawled entry. It wasn't a great entry, but it would have to do for now. She just wanted to get her anger out...as well as her so-long-pent-up feelings. It was frustrating to be conflicted by her feelings for him and the way he'd acted under the pressure of the ultimatum. She only hoped that he would snap out of it soon and choose, for real, this time.

*****

Angel drove down Main as he had every other day since the episode during the Homecoming dance. In a daze. He was hardly ever aware of the environment around him. He only saw what was in his direct line of vision, only listened when he wanted to listen, only spoke when he had to, and only ate when his body told him it needed food. For the casual observer, he merely seemed more pensive than usual which worked well for him since no one seemed to notice anything, yet.

His sister, however, had noticed. Kathy noticed that he seemed more depressed than usual and never wanted to spend time with her anymore. Every time she asked, he'd always say he had work to do and locked himself in his bedroom and only came out for dinner. He answered all her questions with either a 'yes' or a 'no' and seemed too dull to be the person she knew only a few days ago.

Kathy had formed a friendship with Dawn and had found out what had conspired between her brother and Dawn's sisters. It surprised her to find out what her brother did. After all, he was always such a nice person; why would he date someone else if he was already dating another? Kathy's young mind had yet to grasp the main concepts of dating, let alone cheating. When Dawn had tried to explain it to her, she still couldn't understand. Cheating was when someone looked at someone else's test paper for answers or took shortcuts in races or used tricks to help them win. What did that have to do with dating two people at the same time?

Kathy watched her brother wordlessly entering the house and slamming the door behind him. He kept slamming doors and doing things without thinking first and Kathy, frankly enough, was sick of his new and unimproved attitude. It was time she did something about it too.

As he swept past her, she grabbed onto his hand and tugged as hard as she could. Angel, who hadn't been paying attention, stumbled and nearly slammed into the wall. The narrow hallway was dark and for a moment he almost thought something strange was happening to him. Well, until he saw his sister's angry face staring up at him.

Kathy let go of his hand and gave him the enraged look she could manage. "Hello?" She waved a small hand in front of his face to try to get his wandering attention. "Earth to Angel!"

"What is it Kathy?" Angel grumbled. He had decided that there was only way to solve it. Since the pros and cons list hadn't helped since it wasn't really fair to judge someone on their imperfections, he had decided to do a sketch that was based on personal instinct and desire. He wouldn't let his mind control his decision—just his instincts.

"Stop walking around like you're half-dead, that's what. It's not only freaky and scary to see you like that...it scares me," her last three words were just a whisper, but Angel had been listening and he had heard.

Angel looked into the eyes of his younger sister and relaxed himself for the first time that week. Angel stroked her hair and stooped to her level. "I just have to figure this out, Kathleen. Then I'll be back to normal." Angel stood back up and continued into the house. Kathy awaited the slam of the door behind him. It never came.

*****

_//The road is long  
The memory slides  
To the whole of my undoing  
Put aside  
I put away  
I push it back to get through each day  
And all I feel is black and white  
And I'm wound up small and tight  
And I don't know who I am//_  


Kathryn listened to the song and wondered whether or not she was a fool for falling for a guy like Angel. How was he different from the scum she'd picked up along the way? Use her, dump her. She hated to act as if she was fine and dandy all the time. It hurt that the only opinion anyone ever had of her was either 'snob', 'bitch' or 'slut'. It hurt that her life was like it was. Like a carousel, it just went around and around and around, always playing the same annoying song and spinning in the same direction. People came on looking for a good time and got off when they got bored or when she got bored of them. No one ever stayed very long. Angel had been on for the ride the longest and she had practically pushed him off.

_//Everybody loves you when you're easy  
Everybody hates when you're a bore  
Everyone is waiting for your entrance so  
Don't disappoint them//_  


*****

Angel stared at his sketch. It didn't look quite right. There was too much darkness and gloom in it. He had drawn Kathryn, sitting at a table in the Bronze, but it didn't look quite right. He hadn't drawn for many years, but he had always been gifted at sketching people. Especially women...for some odd reason.

Angel scrunched up the piece of paper and turned off his glaringly bright desk lamp. It was only 8 o'clock. He still had time for another sketch...

He let his hands do it all, hardly looking down at his sketch pad and not even turning his lamp back on. He concentrated for one...two...three...four hours and was finally happy with his drawing. It was a scene of a picnic in a sunny park. And sitting on the picnic rug was...

"Buffy," Angel whispered incredulously. He took a short glance at the clock on the wall; 12:07. It was too late to pay her a visit. It also wasn't as if he could just call her up and tell her.

He glanced down at his drawing again and noticed just how much detail he had put into it. The expression on her face was of happiness; like someone had just made a joke and someone had snapped a shot of her just before she got over the bouts of laughter. The happiness in the body language he had included in his drawing had been enhanced by the detail on her face and the care taken to make sure that she looked absolutely perfect. He had also drawn himself in the picture, sitting beside her. In his mind's eye, the picture just didn't look right if it had Kathryn in it instead. The love and tenderness that had been expressed by his sketching had been exactly opposite to how he had drawn Kathryn—with hard, dark lines that were drawn with anything but love.

**No more confusion, no more lies, no more deception. I love Buffy and only her.** He looked at the clock again. **Maybe I should wait until tomorrow.** Tomorrow would be Saturday and he didn't really fancy his chances of knocking on their door to find a grumpy Kathryn behind it. The only choice he had was to go looking for her at the Bronze and he didn't really fancy his chances of finding her there either. **Well, I'll never know if I never try.**

*****

Buffy sat inside the Bronze with Xander, Willow, Oz and a very hesitant Cordelia. While Buffy just stared at her soda, the others conversed and the mood between them was light. It'd thrown them a little to find out that Buffy and 'Queen C' had suddenly become friends, but they adapted nonetheless. Willow actually found Cordelia to be quite good company when they found something in common to talk about. Xander cracked his sometimes successful, sometimes not, jokes as he usually did and Willow laughed at all of them, as she usually did.

Buffy gulped down the rest of her drink and hopped off her stool. She had forgotten to bring the notes Willow had loaned to her and wanted to give them back so that Willow would be able to look over them as well for the test they were going to have on Monday morning.

"Where're you going, Buff?" Xander asked in a worried voice.

"You're not going home already, right? I still need a ride home. Remember? Car being repaired?" Cordelia asked frantically.

"I just need to go home to pick up this thing that I forgot and then I'm coming straight back. No need to go postal," Buffy reassured her in a non-committal tone. "I promise. I'll be back."

"Sure," Willow commented suspiciously when Buffy had left. She knew that something was bothering her friend and she had yet to squeeze anything out of her except the scarce tidbits that were making the rounds within SHS's hallowed halls. Willow swore that she'd find out what was bothering her and help her get through it. It was supposed to be the best friend's job, after all.

*****

Angel drove carelessly, only caring about one thing: not being later than he already was. He had been held back by one thing or another all day and the things he'd let fester throughout the week were beginning to come back to bite him in the ass. His driving wasn't helped by the feeling in his gut that he'd just missed the opportunity to talk to Buffy and would have to wait another torturous day to again have the opportunity.

With his mind and his nerves going all over the place, he failed to see that the light had turned red.

He braked as hard his foot could but he couldn't avoid the collision.

All he saw before he blacked out was a head of blonde hair collapsed against the steering wheel of the shiny, metallic blue sports car he had collided with.

_(A.N. The song is "Black and White" by Sarah McLachlan.)_


	16. Part 16 - Hospitality

**Part 16**

Angel woke up to find himself in a hospital gown and staring at an unfamiliar white ceiling that had suffered quite a bit of paint peeling through the years. **Hospital gown? Why the hell am I in a hospital gown?**

Angel turned his head slowly toward his left and found no annoying beeping machines or anything at all except an uncomfortable looking plastic chair and the tall metal stand that held the clear plastic bag that was joined to the tube which was joined to the back of his hand with some paper-like white surgical tape. **Huh? Why the hell am I on a drip? I don't need medication...do I?**

Angel shook his head to clear the fogginess in his mind to figure out what the hell was going on. The last thing he remembered was... The car crash. **Oh God, Buffy...**

Angel hurriedly pulled the tape off his hand, eased the needle out and looked around the room for signs of his own clothing. Or anything that didn't resemble both a dress and an apron at the same time. Not to mention something that actually covered him up. He saw another plastic chair on the other side of the room and spotted the pair of pants that lay folded neatly and a very grimy looking shirt on top. **Pants will do. I only need the pants.** He quickly picked them up and slipped into them, almost falling over when struck with a brief dizzy spell.

A nurse making the rounds was shocked to find him out of bed and leaving the medication dripping onto the bed. She was even more shocked when he rushed out of the ward, ignoring her completely.

Angel looked up and down the hall. Where oh where was a damned nurses' station when you needed one? He found it shortly after and wasted no time with pleasantries. He needed to know if Buffy was okay and not lying dead in the morgue already. Because of him.

"I'm looking for Buffy Summers. We were in a car accident and-" Angel started to say.

"Summers, Summers, Summers... Oh, here it is. Oh dear," the smiling old nurse's face fell. She pottered around for a while with the files on her desk before finally giving the keyboard a few more taps.

Angel banged his fist on the desk, imagining the worst. "What is it?"

"She's in room 307. The third floor is the Intensive Care Unit," the old nurse—Grace, it said on her nametag—gave Angel a sympathetic smile before lowering her voice. "You better go before you get caught."

Angel smiled thankfully and took the lift up to the third floor. He couldn't help but feel guilty...if she was badly injured, it would be because of him. Angel wouldn't be able to live with that.

*****

"Where the hell is Buffy?" Cordelia asked impatiently, watching the door for the blonde girl's appearance. "I'm going to kill her if she doesn't come."

"Where is she? If she doesn't turn up, then I'll get stuck with the job of walking you home. Now how scary is that thought?" Xander asked with a slight scowl. He'd secretly harboured a crush on her since elementary school, but he wouldn't let himself succumb to it. He could find someone who was more his type...couldn't he? He, Xander Harris probably had the least chance in the world with Cordelia Chase than any other person on the face of the planet. Almost, since people who were beggars or extremely obese or ugly would have less chance than him. Alright, just change 'planet' to 'school'. **Huh? Wouldn't that make the sentence not make sense?** Xander abandoned his idle ponderings for a little 'help me' look directed towards Willow.

Willow was too caught up in her own thoughts to pay attention to Xander giving her strange looks with the whole wiggling of eyebrows deal. "What if Buffy's in trouble? She could be mugged or attacked and it would've been my fault. Oh, I'm a bad friend. I'm a bad, bad, bad person." Willow slammed her head on the table repeatedly.

"Willow," Oz said comfortingly, "it isn't your fault."

Willow stopped and looked back up at Oz, who was giving her a loving, reassuring smile. "You're right. We have to look for her...o-or something. I'll call her mom to see if she got home safely. And then...we'll do...something. I dunno. We can't just sit here waiting for her if she's lying dead or injured or..."

"Here's my phone," Cordelia handed over her mobile with the number already keyed in. The number of the Summers' residence had been on her speed dial ever since she'd first gotten the phone. If she called Kathryn any more than she already did, she reckoned that she could get a lower rate for dialling the same number so often. Like when you get lower rates for dialling specific countries.

"Thanks." Willow accepted it and made her way toward the bathrooms where it was quieter. When she returned, she was unable to speak. **It's all my fault...**

"Will, what is it?"

"Buffy's mom got a call from the hospital. Buffy was in a car accident."

"How is she?"

"Bad."

*****

When Angel arrived at room 307, he found a doctor and a nurse with her. The doctor was scribbling something onto her clipboard and the nurse had been hovering about, fixing the bedclothes. Her shoes squeaked every few steps and in the minute that Angel had been watching, he had begun to wonder how the doctors could stand such a nuisance.

The constant beeping of the heart monitor beside Buffy's bed retained a steady rhythm. *Beep*, *beep*, *beep* in time to the squeaking of the nurse's shoes. There were tubes running all over the place, connecting, possibly, to the interesting machine pumping away on the other side of the bed.

"Rose?" the doctor said to the nurse.

"Yes, doctor?"

"I think the sheets are okay now," the doctor looked up briefly from the clipboard to eye the perfectly unwrinkled sheets that covered her patient.

Rose nodded and apologised in her thick Southern accent. "Sorry. I'm just worried. Such a sweet looking girl shouldn't be in a place like this."

"I know, Rose. I know," the doctor replied, and hung the clipboard on the end of the bed.

Angel approached the door quietly, and accidentally bumped into Rose, who was hurrying back nervously to the nurses' station. "Sorry," Angel said, with his face down.

"Hey. Aren't you the guy they brought in with Miss Summers?"

"Yeah, how is she doing? Is she okay?"

"No. She's far from okay. Thanks to you."

Angel gulped nervously. "W-what happened? She's...she's my girlfriend."

"Really? If she really is your girlfriend, then I suppose that it was just coincidence that you crashed into her instead of somebody else, huh? Don't try your lies on me, Mr. Ferguson."

Angel had had enough. He wasn't about to be stopped by some random nurse. He needed to know how Buffy was doing. Was it too much to ask? Angel grabbed hold of the nurse by her shoulders. "I am *not* lying and I'm not a criminal either. I just want to know what happened to Buffy."

"S-sorry, but y-you'll h-have to ask the doctor. I-I-I can't help you..." Rose whimpered. Angel had been more intimidating than he intended to.

Angel relaxed his hold on her and softened his demeanour. He was taking out his anger and frustration out on the poor nurse who had done nothing except be concerned for the girl that he was in love with. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that," Angel cast his eyes to the ground, afraid to look anywhere else for fear of being met with accusatory eyes.

Rose noticed how genuinely distraught-looking he was and briefly wondered he would know that Miss Summers' name was Buffy. "Apology accepted. If you want to know how she is, maybe you should ask her family. We're not authorised to give details to anyone except the patient's family and relatives."

"Where?"

"The visitors' lounge, just around the corner," Rose pointed further down the hallway.

"Thank you," Angel replied with a slight sigh. He turned regretfully from Buffy's room to find her family. He didn't care that he probably looked like hell broken loose or that he was wearing a hospital gown that resembled a painting smock; he just wanted to know if Buffy was going to be okay...

*****

Angel approached Mrs. Summers cautiously, not wanting to upset the poor woman more than she seemed to already be. Hank sat beside her, holding her hand in his for moral support. Dawn sat with a cold cup of cocoa in her hand. She hadn't even noticed that her hot cocoa had become cold...she'd been too worried to notice. Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordelia were also there, but looked as if they were about ready to leave. It was getting late and they all undoubtedly had curfews.

"Angel?" Joyce asked. She looked up at him with puffy, slightly teary, eyes that couldn't focus on any one object for more than a few seconds at a time. Her free hand played with the strap of her hand bag, fidgeting nervously as the hand on the clock on the wall ticked away.

"Mrs. Summers. I...I'm sorry. They wouldn't tell me what happened...could y-"

"The doctor said that she has a few fractured ribs, a broken arm and a bit of internal bleeding," Joyce ticked off each item off on her fingers slowly. "She also had a mild concussion as well, but she should be fine with a bit of rest. I hope she'll be okay...the last thing we need is for..."

"It'll be okay, Mrs. Summers," Angel sat down beside her and hung his head. "At least I hope she will."

"Don't blame it on yourself. We all make mistakes. And please, call me Joyce."

*****

The next morning, Angel woke up to find himself still in the visitors' lounge along with the rest of Buffy's family (minus Kathryn and Mr. Gordo of course). Angel rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and snuck a peek at the clock still ticking away on the wall. It was still pretty early. Only 8 o'clock. He wondered where his own parents were... **They probably came by, found me asleep, took Kathy home so that she could get to bed early and went to visit Granny Ferguson downstairs. They know I'm okay. See? There's a note. 'Gone to visit your grandmother. We can't leave Kathy at home for too much longer. Hope you'll feel better when we come by tomorrow after church.'**

Angel yawned and stretched his arms. He stood up and found his way to Buffy's room. To his surprise, she was awake and alert. In fact, she was trying to reach the glass of water on the table beside her bed and was struggling to do so without causing herself too much pain.

"Here," Angel said, startling her. He rushed over to help her place the cup so that the straw was positioned close enough to her mouth. "Are you okay? Do the doctors know you're awake?" He dragged a chair from the corner of the small 'room' (with mere curtains as partitions) and sat down beside her.

Buffy opened her mouth to say 'no' but only a raspy indistinguishable sound came out. Instead, she opted to shake her head a little bit in hope that Angel would know what she meant. Every part of her body hurt, but none so much as her neck. The pillows had been so uncomfortable that her neck felt strained, so much so that she didn't want to move in case she hurt herself even more than she already was. Shaking her head just the littlest bit hurt.

Angel watched as she flinched every time she took a sip, wondering if she would ever forgive him for being so careless. Angel closed his eyes for a few moments before beginning to speak, "I hope you won't hate me for causing this to happen, and I know that this isn't exactly the right moment to say this, but if I don't do it now, I'll never be able to."

Buffy coughed slightly and hoped it wasn't what she thought it was. **He's not going to tell me he loves Kathryn instead of me after banging me up like this is he? He isn't that cruel...is he? He hangs with Kathryn's crowd, why the hell not?** "Stop," she managed to say in a soft voice that she could hardly recognise as her own. The water had helped clear out her throat. "If you're only going to give me bad news, then leave."

Angel stayed in his spot. He shifted uncomfortably in the plastic chair identical to the ones in his own room when he had woken up just the night before. The action scared Buffy a little bit until she realised she had mistaken his discomfort for an indication that he bore bad news.

"Well...it depends on what you make of it. It could be either good or bad," Angel said. He took in a deep breath. He'd just been putting it off and putting it off, coming up with lame excuses and just convincing himself that he'd stuff it up. Shyness was, by no means, his kind of thing. It surprised him that he could be reduced into a bumbling little boy around a girl like Buffy. "I-I...I...I just wanted-...I mean, I..." Angel chuckled at his own behaviour. He was like a deer caught speeding by the police and taken to the station to be interrogated. Of course, it was ridiculous, but he was far from being a 'deer caught in headlights'.

"Sorry, I'm just nervous, I guess. What I'm trying to say is that...is that I love you. Not Kathryn; *you*. If you can't forgive me, then I'll understand perfectly. I was just in such a rush to get to the Bronze to see you that I didn't see the red light and by the time I did, it was already too late," Angel said, holding Buffy's hand comfortingly. "Not that I'm trying to make excuses," he added after a moment of realisation.

Buffy looked into his eyes and immediately recognised the sincerity that she found there. "There's nothing to forgive. We all make mistakes."

"That's exactly what your mother said. Like mother, like daughter."

"She loves you already, you know. She was probably even imagining you as her son-in-law," Buffy replied slowly. "And as you said, 'Like mother, like daughter.'" Buffy grinned as Angel reacted to the implications of what she had just said.

"Wha-...what?"

"I love you, too. And you're right. This isn't the right moment. I can't even lean over and give you a nice big kiss. Not that my breath is anything to be desired anyway."

"I don't care about that," Angel leaned over and gave her her 'nice big kiss'. He didn't want to be the cause of even more injury.

"You should probably tell the doctor that I'm awake...and that I hurt *everywhere*," Buffy leaned back into her pillows, noticing for the first time how incredibly strangely Angel was dressed.

"Everywhere?" Angel asked.

"Don't play smart with me. I may be in a good mood, but I have a nice big glass of water in my hands."

Angel got out of his chair and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I promise to be good. Just let me see if I can find you a doctor."

*****

Kathryn found herself dragging herself over to the hospital after finding the note taped to her bedroom door. Something about Buffy being in the hospital. **Good riddance. If she dies, then it'll be well deserved. That should be a lesson to people who see their sister's boyfriend behind her back.**

Kathryn had not arrived home until late in the morning. It was at least ten in the morning and there was absolutely no one at home except Mai Lee. She had spent the night with the guy who refused to be called anything except 'Fray'. Stupid name, tough guy, tough gang. Kathryn had no objections to getting personal with a guy with power. And since he now owed her a few favours, she had every intention of cashing in.

But before she did, she wanted to inflict some emotional damage...thus the dragging.

*****

"Knock, knock," Kathryn poked her head through the curtains and smiled in a way that made Buffy feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Please, don't come in," Buffy continued to stare at the ceiling, thinking over the things that had happened in the past 24 hours. Specifically about the things that people had spoken to her about. The gifts were already beginning to accumulate in the corner. She had been moved down to the second floor as soon as the doctors saw that she was recovering better than they had expected. ICU had been filled to overflowing with victims involved in a bus crash, and since Buffy had no need of the attention given in ICU, she had been moved a few rooms down from Angel's. The ward down here was much quieter and the nurses weren't as nitpicky about visitors.

Hank had insisted she be moved into a private room, but Buffy had refused claiming to be too tired to be moving this way and that. She hated to be fussed over and it also meant that she would have to be moved somewhere that was far, far away from Angel. The ER was also located on the same floor and she didn't fancy her chances of getting any sleep at all through that noise.

Kathryn came in anyway and sat herself down on the chair with her purse neatly tucked under her arm. Her gaze was trained solely on the single bruise Buffy's forehead. It had turned an interesting mix of green, purple and yellow. It was almost a perfect circle and the colour made Buffy look paler than she actually was.

"Well? Are you just going to sit there or are you going to tell me what you came here to tell me?" Buffy asked in a non-committal tone of voice. She had wondered where Kathryn had disappeared to when she first woke up that morning, but after giving it a second thought and the sight of the wrinkled dress Kathryn was wearing, she decided that it was probably better to be left in the dark.

"I talked to Angel last night," Kathryn lied calmly.

"Oh really? And what did he say to you?" Buffy said without a change in her voice. She didn't want to give away the fact that she knew that her sister was lying. It was much more fun to hear everything her dear sister had to say...

After Angel found a doctor to check her over, he had sat by her bed and they had talked briefly. It was enough to understand that Angel no longer wanted anything to do with Kathryn and that she had almost tricked him into getting back together with her. 'Close but no cigar', as Faith always said.

"He told me that he wanted to make things right with me and that he realised that he was in love with me instead of you. And that I should break the news to you instead of him. He was too busy to do it himself..." Kathryn said. The phoniness of her sympathy was really getting to Buffy. It disturbed her that her sister would go to such lengths to be with anyone. Trickery, deception, lies, drugs, sex...

"Really? When was this? And why was he too busy?"

"Of course. You think I would lie to you about something like this? What am I talking about? You *would* think I'd lie to you. But I swear that I'm telling the truth." Kathryn kept a straight face and struggled not to burst into peals of laughter. All she had to do was answer Buffy's stupid questions and then have a little 'talk' with Angel. Then her plan would be complete. "He told me last night. And then... Well, I must look pretty bad this morning. I'm absolutely exhausted."

Kathryn was caught in a short daydream she kept having all the time. For a moment, she didn't even register where she was, though she snapped back into reality when she felt cold water being poured on her. Buffy winced in pain from the action, but the expression on Kathryn's face made it all worth it.

"Leave," Buffy said angrily. She had had enough of the lies and the little things Kathryn did that made her tick. She couldn't stand it anymore and she no longer wanted to be in the same state as her sister, let alone the same room.

Kathryn looked down at the large wet patch on her expensive grey dress and slicked her wet hair away from her face. She probably looked far less than adequate than she had been when she had left the house that morning—absolutely terrible. For that, she was beyond pissed and at the moment, all she wanted was to give Buffy a nice big punch. Anywhere was fine with her, just as long as it hurt. She would have done it if it wasn't a hospital and if there weren't security guards patrolling the whole building. Not to mention the little button Buffy sure had finger poised above to signal to the nurses' station that she needed help.

Kathryn clenched her fist. It was so tempting...but it wasn't worth the risk. She simply fixed herself up, picked her purse up from the ground where she had dropped it and took off running out of the building.

Buffy smiled with content. She'd wanted to embarrass her sister ever since Junior High and now that she finally had, it was about time she got to bask in her glory.

Meanwhile, Joyce, Hank, Dawn, Angel, Angel's family, Willow, Xander, Faith, Spike and Cordelia wondered what the hell had caused Kathryn to dash out in the fashion that she had. They found Buffy smiling with the glass in her hand standing empty.

"What happened?" Joyce asked suspiciously.

"I embarrassed her. Oops."

*****

Kathryn kept running until she found an available cab to take her where she wanted. She was going to see Fray again and finally ask for a favour. She wanted revenge and she wanted it as soon as she could. **She's not even going to see what hit her... That little bitch will pay for making me look like such dope. Finding and talking to Angel will have to come afterward...or not.** Kathryn gave the driver the address of her new destination. Her grim determination didn't stop her when she found the Ferguson house empty and decided to check every single place she could think of.

She would find him and tell him that Buffy despised him...and then she would get Fray's gang to do their thing...


	17. Part 17 - Breaking the Rules

**Part 17**

Kathryn rung the bell impatiently and peeked through the two windows on either side of the front door of Angel's house. After concluding that nobody was home, she walked to the Gunn residence a few blocks down from Angel's place. He wasn't at Gunn's.

She checked the houses of everyone who she thought might know of the whereabouts of her boyfriend. (Or in reality: her ex-boyfriend.)

Exhausted and lacking enthusiasm, Kathryn trudged home and finally lay down to catch a bit of shuteye. She had not slept for over 24 hours and she was certainly not a very happy camper. The light streaming through the large windows of her room only reminded her that it was not yet dark out. Her heart beat sped up, and she felt as if the thermostat had just been turned up a few notches too many. She felt tired all over, but she wanted nothing more than go partying until the wee hours of the morning. **I'm okay. There's nothing wrong with me at all...yeah, keep convincing yourself that Kathryn...**

Kathryn lay with her eyes wide open until the effect of the drugs in her system engulfed her in unconsciousness. The sweat on her cold skin collected in wet droplets that ran down her back and forehead and onto the freshly laundered bedspread.

Mai Lee whistled quietly as she opened the door of Kathryn's room to hang up the clothes she had just finished ironing. She found Kathryn asleep and tried not to disturb her. Mai Lee quietly hung the clothes in the wardrobe and tiptoed out as quickly as she could. When she closed the door behind her, she realised that Kathryn seemed a little too...unpresentable.

Mai Lee inched the door open and stepped back into the room. Quietly, she shuffled over to the other side of the bed to check if something was wrong. She was breathing, that was for sure since her chest rose up and lowered back down with every inhalation and exhalation. Mai Lee pressed two fingers to Kathryn's neck. Her pulse was a bit too fast for Mai Lee to believe that Kathryn was just sleeping. Mai Lee grabbed hold of Kathryn's shoulders and shook her awake. To her surprise, Kathryn responded by slapping her, violently across the cheek before falling back into slumber.

Mai Lee wasn't about to give up. She lifted one eyelid and found that Kathryn's pupil had become extremely wide. It was strange...and abnormally large and dark. Mai Lee grabbed Kathryn's shoulders and hoisted her up until she was sitting upright.

Kathryn woke within seconds, blinking her eyes against the light still pouring through the windows. "What the fuck?"

"Miss Kathryn! Your mother did not teach you about rude words?" Mai Lee spoke in less than fluent English.

"Can you get me a glass of water?" Kathryn was awake and alert again...and thirsty as well.

"No! No water!"

"What? How can there be no water?"

"No, no, no! Water not good after fainting. Must not give you any fluids."

Kathryn rolled her eyes and fell back against the pillows with her arms crossed over her chest. Denial—that was what this was. She couldn't admit that her body was strong enough to hack the amount of cocaine she had been consuming recently.

"I didn't faint. I just lost consciousness for a few moments. I'll be okay...just a little...dizzy. That's all."

"Otherwise known as fainting. Now sit up so the blood goes away from your head," Mai Lee said. She repositioned the pillows and made Kathryn sit up with her back parallel to the headboard with the pillows in between. "I will call your mother and ask her to come back straight away."

Kathryn grabbed a hold of Mai Lee's wrist just a moment before she got too far away. "Don't tell her."

Mai Lee hesitated for a second before prying Kathryn's fingers from her wrist. "Whatever you wish, Miss Kathryn."

*****

"Oh, I could just rip her throat out. That conniving, devious, perfidious, scheming, crooked, evil little bitch...-y streetwalker...-ish person. How could she?" Buffy said to Angel. The bleakness of the hospital was beginning to really get to her, as were the constant stream of doctors, nurses, funny smells, bad food and contraptions of all sorts. Her chest was hurting like hell and her immobile arm itched every time she managed to ignore the pain from her fractured ribs. This all made for an uncomfortable experience; one that had not yet even lasted a whole 24 hours.

"Well, you said it yourself. She's that evil bitchy streetwalkerish person you've been rambling on about for the past half an hour or so."

"But I want to understand why she'd go to such extremes. She's never ever had a single boyfriend for over a month."

"Huh? She hasn't?" Angel asked, raising an eyebrow. Buffy just shook her head. "Maybe she's...I don't know...attached?"

"Maybe. Can I just ask why you chose me though?" Buffy asked with a smile.

"Because I realised that I love you," Angel said. He took her free hand and rubbed it gently.

"I know. But what took so long? What was so...great about Kathryn?"

"It's the whole popularity thing. That's about it. She's not such a bad person if she doesn't hate you. You said so yourself, you two used to be attached at the hip. You two sound like the Olsen twins... How scary is THAT thought?"

Buffy giggled momentarily and looked straight into Angel's eyes. His eyes shone with such...emotion. She regretted being stuck in the godforsaken hospital and having chosen to drive instead of walking. **Sorry Cordy. Looks like Xander had to walk you home.** "I guess... It still bugs me that I never found out why she wanted to join Cordelia's crowd in the first place. She was so angry at me...and I don't even know why. In the end, I guess I'm the one who fucked her up."

"Buffy. Don't blame yourself. She chose her own path."

"Yeah, and I put in the detour signs."

"Buffy..."

"I know, I know. But for a while, I had a few...doubts about your feelings for me. I mean, I was thinking that you were supposed to know, like, straight away and that it wouldn't be hard to decide. But then I realised that love isn't simple...and when I looked into your eyes just then; I knew it was genuine," Buffy said in voice just above a whisper. "And it's extra special to know that you'd break traffic rules to tell me."

Angel chuckled for a moment at Buffy's take on it all. Buffy the optimist...her glass was very much half full. Well, until it was emptied on Kathryn. "I'll always still be sorry about it though. And then you'll have that itchy, broken arm in that cast for a few weeks and then your ribs...well... I'm so sorry."

"Darn. And I had this whole vengeance thing planned as well. Now I'll be stuck in bed with the whole fractured ribs thing and the itchy broken arm...and cold feet," Buffy pouted.

Angel loved how mature she could be and then so suddenly become an adorable, childish little girl the next minute. "Well then I guess I'll have to distract you so you won't feel it then. And then I'll have to bring you hot water bottles and chicken soup."

"Or you could just distract me," Buffy teased. "Come 'ere already."

"At your service," Angel said, leaning over to take her lips in loving kiss.

"Yum. I love chicken soup...almost as much as I like these kinds of distractions," Buffy grinned.

Grace, the nurse that Angel had met last night at the nurses' station popped her head in with a large bunch of flowers in her arms. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not when you come bearing more gifts," Buffy flashed the old nurse a bright smile.

Grace smiled back. All of the nurses who had encountered the young girl had been immediately enchanted with her. The cheerfulness expressed in her actions had been a strange quality for the old nurses who were never used to polite and cheery patients very often before. Especially one who had just been in a car accident and had acquired several injuries in various parts of her body. "No worries. I'll be quick anyway. I just have to put these beautiful lilies in some water. I'm sure that awful Mr. Williams in 302 will be in need of something again. He just doesn't know when to stop pressing that button."

Buffy laughed, trying not to show that it hurt her chest to be laughing as she currently was. She was dreading and welcoming the day when she would be able to go home. The food was absolutely terrible, but the pain was less due the injections they had given her to relieve the pain. **Did I already say the food was terrible? Cos, well, yuck. It's absolutely disgusting. It's ten times worse than airline food.** "I can imagine," Buffy said, thinking about the way Kathryn used to order her around. Thinking back on it, she couldn't believe that was what she was like only two months ago. "Who are the flowers from? Was there a note?"

Grace plucked the small square-shaped card with a red heart motif on its front from the plastic clip buried among the stalks of the white and yellow lilies. "Here," Grace handed it to Buffy with a smile. "You don't suppose that it's from a secret admirer do you?"

Angel silently watched the exchange with interest.

Buffy flipped open the card after inspecting the words printed across the middle of the bright red heart on the front. 'All my love...' **Who could it be?**

Buffy's smile widened and she raised her eyes from the card to look into Angel's. "That's so sweet Angel. How?"

Grace left the couple alone, reminiscing about her own teenage years when she had been young and in love. Of course, she had ended up marrying her high school sweetheart. It brought back fond memories of when her husband was still alive. It plucked at her heartstrings that those kinds of relationships still existed in this modern era.

"I got my dad to help me. He likes you a lot...it's almost as if he thinks he's playing matchmaker. When I go home, I'll tell him the truth. They're not letting me go until they check me over later tonight. I'm just about good to go right now. And then I could go home and make some chicken soup and bring you some to rescue you from the stuff they somehow pass as food around here. My mum brought some, but Kathy gobbled it down before I got a chance to," Angel shrugged. "Do you like the flowers?"

"I love them. And the card too," Buffy shut the card and put it flat down on the table in front of her. There was still a small container of green Jell-O sitting uneaten next to the freshly refilled plastic jug of water. She had been experiencing a little bit of pain when she had been eating earlier, but she didn't really want to worry Angel anymore than she was sure he was. His brow was always slightly furrowed...but right now, he looked pleased that he had brought another smile to her face.

"Has the doctor spoken to you again?" Angel asked, the furrow returning to his brow.

"He said I could go home in a few days," she announced excitedly. "He said that they were worried that I would slip into a coma because of my concussion, but I just need to stay here a little bit longer."

"I'm glad you're okay," Angel said, dropping his gaze to his hands. "Look-"

"*Don't* worry about it. Please?"

Angel hesitated. He felt so guilty about putting his beloved through all this...bullshit. He wished he could just scream out his love for her from the rooftop, but he still had to tell Kathryn. "Okay...on one condition."

"What is it?"

"Tell me all about that vengeance thing you mentioned earlier."

Buffy grinned. She was wondering when he would ask about that...


	18. Part 18 - Betrayal

****

Part 18

A few days later, Kathryn STILL couldn't find Angel. He was never at home, never at school, never answering her calls and everyone she asked always seemed to not know where the heck he was. It was as if he had disappeared off the face of the earth. And to bake her noodle even more, Buffy had made such an improvement that she was able to come home. However, she had to stay in a wheelchair to prevent further injury. The doctor's orders were to just rest, but Buffy wasn't able to stay in bed for very long before she felt the need to move around and do ordinary stuff.

Kathryn stepped through the front door after a long and exhausting day at school. Mostly due to Mrs. La Croix again... Kathryn sighed and scanned the hallway for signs of...well, anyone except Mr. Gordo. He sat up as if he were more important than he really was before hissing at her and dashing up the stairs in record time.

Kathryn raised her eyebrows in curiosity. **Why does that damned cat always do that?** She shrugged and dropped her keys on the hall table. Glancing down toward the ground, she noticed a backpack. Not hers, not Dawn's, not Buffy's...definitely nobody who lived here. **Who the hell does it belong to then?**

Kathryn headed up the stairs and put her own stuff in her room before checking every single room for signs of the visitor...or intruder. **Hey, maybe it was a murderer out to kill Buffy...or not. Who the heck would want to kill a little nobody like Buffy?**

Kathryn carefully inched the door of the last room open. Buffy's door creaked open loudly to reveal Buffy and Angel involved in a heated lip-lock on the bed.

**That...fucking...bastard...** Kathryn clenched her fists. She didn't even register the pain of her sharp nails digging into the flesh of her palm. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Surely she was hallucinating...right?

Buffy thought she heard a noise. Like the door creaking open. She pulled away from the kiss and saw her sister standing there, mouth gaping open and fists clenched so tightly that Buffy wondered whether she should be concerned about Kathryn's wellbeing.

Angel was about as shocked to see Kathryn as Kathryn was to see him. He was relieved though. He had been hoping that he wouldn't have to say it to her face. She had that intimidating glare...it made just about everyone feel small and in significant when she used it; even someone who was taller than herself. "Kathryn."

"I don't want an explanation," Kathryn said bitterly. She spun around and left the room, slamming the door behind her. She hurried down the stairs and picked up her bag along with her keys and unknowingly almost caused the front door to slam into Dawn's nose when she slammed it behind her.

"Hey!" Dawn protested. "Fuck off," Kathryn spit out as she ran down the front steps. She was in a hurry. She needed to talk to Fray. And for the second time in her life, Kathryn felt betrayed by her sister.

*****

__

...Junior High...a few years previous...

"Kathryn?" Buffy asked uncertainly.

"Yeah?"

"Promise you won't fall into the wrong crowd?"

"I promise."

**

__

"She was saying that about me?" Kathryn screeched.

Cordelia nodded. "I know that it must be horrible to find out that your best-friend-slash-twin-sister had betrayed you." Cordelia sympathised, wondering if any of what Harmony had said was actually true. She only knew that she liked the twins—a lot—and was disappointed that Buffy had already befriended Willow Rosenberg. **Oh well. Her loss.**

*****

Buffy was frightened out of her slumber by the loud knocking on the door. Not her bedroom door; her front door...and her back door. She looked at her alarm clock. **Gosh, we must've gotten sleepy.** Buffy rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times to adjust to the light. **Stupid people...it was good dream too!**

Angel—who had fallen asleep in the chair he had been sitting in the whole time—woke moments later, confused as Buffy was. "What the fuck is going on?" He hurried to the window and looked outside. There was a group of tough looking guys pounding on the back door. That was all he could see except for the cluster of less tough-looking guys watching worriedly. **What the fuck do they want?**

"What's going on, Angel?" Buffy asked. She felt so helpless...it sounded a lot like a riot outside, without the shouting or destruction.

"I'm not quite sure, but I think that it's that gang that Kathryn was rumoured to have."

"Great. Sex, drugs, lies, betrayal, deceit AND gangs. What the hell is wrong with her?" Buffy shook her head and slipped on a robe to fend off the cool November air. "Where's Dawn? And Mr. Gordo?"

Dawn burst into Buffy's room right on cue, with Mr. Gordo scooped protectively in her arms. "What's happening?"

"It's a gang. Maybe I should talk to them; find out what they want. Buffy, you call the cops. Dawn, find a closet to hide in." Angel grabbed the cordless phone from Buffy's desk and handed it to her to make it easier for Buffy.

"Be careful!" Buffy shouted before worriedly punching in the three elusive numbers. It was easy to remember when your mind was clear and when you weren't feeling quite up to scratch. Every single number that had been imprinted in her memory ran through her mind before Dawn shook her out of her daze.

"Buffy! Call 911 already!"

*****

Angel peeked through the peep hole of the front door and found that the group who had previously been doing their level best to knock it off its hinges had decided to adopt a tough demeanour instead of wasting their energy on pounding the door instead of the people behind it. **Must be a strong door...** He scanned the few he could see through the small opening. **At least it isn't a racial gang.** Caucasians, Wogs, Asians, African-Americans...all very assorted.

Angel's gaze rested on one particular blonde...the only one who he recognised in the whole crowd.

Angel quickly flung open the door. "Penn?"

All eyes turned to look at Penn. "Angel? What are you doing here?"

Angel trained his stare on the man he thought he had trusted. He was in a gang...and he didn't even tell him. Angel's brow furrowed. "I'm visiting my injured girlfriend. You care to explain?"

"Hey, hey, hey. What is this? Are we going to have a tea party and share gossip or are we gonna do what we're here to do?" one of the tougher gangsters asked Penn. The gangster was dressed head-to-toe with leather and spoke with an odd lilt in his voice. His lips were cracked and dry and his hands were large—good for punching, bad for being punched with.

"We don't want any trouble," Angel told the gangster defiantly. He wasn't about to be intimidated by some guy who had probably been wearing the same pair of underpants for the past three days. He reeked of cigarette smoke and body odour. The name stitched on the jacket said "Larry", but Angel doubted that that was the guy's name.

"Don't want any trouble? Well maybe you shouldn't have stuck your nose where it didn't belong," he grumbled irritably. "I don't know what the heck it is that we're pounding you asses for, and I don't care."

Penn took the liberty (and the risk) to butt in. "I know why. Your ex called in a favour from Fray. They go *way* back. But we go even further."

Angel was shocked. **Penn's been friends with some no-good gang leader and he hasn't even mentioned a single word of it to me? And Kathryn was too?** "Kathryn."

Becoming bored, a few of the gang members began to disperse, leaving just Penn and the other gangster with Angel. "This is because of a girl? Why do I even bother? Maybe I should just...hand him over to the police or something. It's always about him and a girl. And I never ONCE saw his entire face. Like Wilson on Home Improvement."

"Then why is he the leader?" Angel asked out of curiosity. The gangster guy didn't seem so bad after all. At least his morals weren't out of whack like this 'Fray' person that Penn had mentioned moments ago. Whatever happened to "ladies first"?

"He isn't the leader cos he's got pansy name like 'Fray'. It's because he's got money. He compensates well," Penn shrugged.

"I'd REALLY like to know what his real name is," the gangster mumbled under his breath.

"He told me to keep it a secret...but I'm really beginning to hate the gay little fucker. Sebastian Valmont. You can even look him up in the phone book," Penn said angrily.

"I'll have to remember that," Angel mumbled. The police car sirens wailed from a few streets down, signalling to Penn and Co. that it was a good time to get lost. "Thanks."

*****

Kathryn didn't return home that night, instead staying with Fray for the night. Kathryn had gone home in the middle of the night to grab a few clothes and to refill her crucifix without bothering to check any of the other rooms for signs of havoc. The incentive just wasn't there. And there were more important issues to address—she looked totally fucked up. She felt about as trashed as she looked.

Kathryn had somehow tidied up in time to turn up for school looking decidedly presentable. She used concealer to cover up the dark circles under her eyes she had received from the complete lack of sleep she had been getting lately. She grabbed a few tissues from the box on her desk and shoved them into her bag. Her nose bleeds were becoming more frequent, but she didn't care; she just wanted to get back the feeling she got when she first started using cocaine. It didn't matter that the addiction costed her a fortune, just that she could one day achieve the same high as she had just over a year ago...it was...wow...

Kathryn checked her reflection briefly in the hall mirror and hurried to school in record time. Although 'record time' would be more closely defined as 'still late'. By about half a period.

When she arrived, she felt as if there was something strange going on. It was...it was like everyone was looking at her. Staring at her like she was a fiend that had to locked away and punished. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling to have all eyes trained on her in such an accusatory way. Kathryn had had enough after just a few minutes and made her way angrily to the nearest girls' toilets.

Kathryn took out a tissue and started dabbing at the small trickle of blood beginning to flow from her right nostril. It undoubtedly one of the worst side effects. Kathryn checked the stalls for other occupants and found none. She quickly whipped out her crucifix and unscrewed the top and snorted up the fine, white powder. When she was done, she screwed the lid back on and washed her hands. Her nose was still bleeding, but it was just about to stop so Kathryn tipped her head back and pinched the ridge of her nose, hoping that it would work.

Kathryn tipped her head back down to stare at her reflection in the mirror again. She cleaned the excess blood and applied fresh lipstick. Kathryn picked up her bag and pushed open the door. **English be damned. Who needs to know about Othello and his bitch anyway?**

She angrily trudged to the courtyard, not looking where she was going as she walked. The few people wandering around the halls made it a point to stay as far away as possible from her, carrying sheets of paper that Kathryn idly wondered about.

Kathryn bit her lip, not caring that she just ruined her newly applied lippy and sped up her pace. Turning the corner, she bumped into the hard metal of a wheelchair. A wheelchair with Buffy in it. And Angel pushing it. With her mother next him. And her father. "Ow. What's the hell is going on?"

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see her so-called friends whispering among themselves with Cordelia as their unruly leader. In Cordelia's hands were a stack of papers; the same as the ones that Kathryn had been seeing people carrying around, always with the face down—it was a whole big conspiracy; of that, Kathryn was sure. "Would you like one?" Cordelia asked her sarcastically.

"Cut the crap Cordy," Kathryn bit out harshly. **She's backstabbing me?** Kathryn snatched the piece of paper angrily from the girl's hand and braced herself.

"Isn't it funny how people who are completely different can be such good friends?" Cordelia asked. Xander appeared from behind Kathryn and slipped his arm around Cordelia's waist.

"What do you mean by that?" Kathryn said. She was angry; very much so.

"Well, your sister and I talked. We bonded. Buffy came up with the idea. I guess we just did what no one else wanted to do. We got the fliers printed for free since Mrs. Ross so kindly offered. The downfall of the Student Body President because of drug use. She thought it was a VERY worthy cause. They turned out well don't you think?"

"And him?"

"Xander? He was walking me home and he saved me from a mugger. We kinda just...clicked."

A few other students had begun to accumulate. No one had had their first period classes because Principal Snyder had called an assembly to address the issue with Kathryn, which he had not even found out about until he stumbled upon Mrs. Goldsmith talking to Mrs. Ross early that morning. Obviously, something had to be done about it. Snyder being the most anti-drug aware principal in the district, he would not tolerate having the Student Body President of his campus being a coke-addict.

"Young lady, you have become such a disappointment to us over the last few months," Joyce began, "so your father and I have decided to do what's right and put you in rehabilitation. We want you to get better and we want you to understand that this isn't a healthy way to live." Joyce gently pried the bag from Kathryn's hands. She dug into the inside pocket to reveal the crucifix that was hidden within. Joyce unscrewed the lid and angrily tipped out the contents into the bin.

Hank shook his head; he was unable to believe that his precious Kathryn had been deceiving them with her...act all this time. He was also unable to believe that he had fallen for it. They had gotten used to her tantrums after a while and he had always just told himself that the tantrums were justifiable. And the thing that upset him most was that Buffy had kept it a secret all this time.

Kathryn didn't say a word. She knew that no amount of manipulation would get her out of the predicament. She cast her eyes to the ground and let the single tear that had welled up to escape and run down her cheek. "So, you got what you wanted," she spoke, seemingly to everyone who had hated her over the years.

"Yeah, well, you can't always be the biggest bitch in Sunnydale High," Cordelia remarked snidely.

Kathryn lifted her head to look her twin sister straight in the eyes. "You betrayed me." **I betrayed myself.**

She didn't struggle when they led her off the campus. She just couldn't find the strength or the will to try. She knew she needed help. She knew it a long time ago.

"Will she go to jail?" Buffy asked Angel quietly.

"Not for long," he replied, watching Kathryn walking away with her parents and Principal Snyder. He briefly wondered why she didn't seem to be angry or unco-operative. **Because she wants this.**

"I betrayed her," Buffy whispered so softly that Angel could hardly even hear it.

"No you didn't."

"Yes. I did. She's my sister; my twin. I promised her...and I betrayed her."

"No. Don't blame yourself. I think, in a way, she wanted it to happen," Angel knelt to look her in the eye. "Besides, didn't you say that she deserved it anyway? Think of it this way: you're helping her get better." He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and gently slipped his hand under her head and brought her lips to meet his.

Angel slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small, black, velvet box.

"Shit. You're not proposing are you?" Buffy asked; her eyes grew as wide as they could possibly go. "I'm not sure that...commitment is the best option for us. You know, at such a young age. Not that I NEVER want to. Just...you know-"

"Buffy? Can you maybe just let me talk first?" Angel asked, thoroughly amused by Buffy's reaction. He glanced around and found them in the midst of a large (and rather curious) crowd of peers, watching with eyes almost as wide as Buffy's had been.

Angel laughed without humour and wheeled Buffy into the nearest empty room—which so happened to be the library—so that they could have more privacy. Angel briefly checked for any other occupants and wheeled Buffy right up to the large wooden table standing in the middle of the room. Angel sat down in the nearest wooden chair and shuffled (chair and all) as close as he could to his girlfriend. He fished out the small box once again from his pants pocket.

Angel opened the box and showed Buffy the delicate piece of Irish jewellery. It was small, silver ring depicting a pair of hands holding a heart which was wearing a crown—a claddagh. "I want you to have this."

"What's the occasion?"

"Not much. The hands represent friendship, the crown—loyalty and the heart...well it represents love. You wear it with the heart pointing towards you; it means you belong to somebody. Like this," Angel held up his hand, showing the matching ring shining proudly on his finger.

Angel took out the tiny ring and slipped it onto her finger—it fit perfectly. Buffy's eyes sparkled with unreleased tears. She blinked, causing the tears to spill down her cheeks. "I love you," Angel whispered breathlessly.

"I love you too," Buffy replied. She kissed him as passionately as she could before her ribs started hurting her from the lack of air.

"I hope you get better soon," Angel said regretfully.

"And then what? We'll screw like bunnies?" Buffy joked light-heartedly, pressing her forehead to his.

Angel laughed, "You DO realise that Giles is standing right behind you, right?"

THE END


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